News

​Refinance activity remained more or less level from June to July, though interest in the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) continued to dwindle, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported. The falloff in HARP refinancing continues even as the government works to revitalize the program.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Monday that personal consumption expenditures increased $57.5 billion—0.5 percent—month-over-month in August. The increase in spending followed a meager revised increase of less than 0.1 percent for July. Spending was helped by a 0.3 percent pickup in personal income, totaling an increase of $47.3 billion.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a 1.0 percent decline in its Pending Home Sales Index for August. The drop brings the index down to 104.7, its second highest reading so far this year. The drop in the pending sales measure came in the same month that the association reported a dip in existing-home sales.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the appointment of a new deputy director of its Division of Enterprise Regulation, appointing Nina Nichols to the position.

Home price appreciation continues to slow across the country, registering a 0.2 percent increase over the month of July, according to Black Knight Financial Services. The firm's home price index stands at $241,000 as of the end of July.

Consumer confidence reached its highest level since the Great Recession in September, according to the Thomson Reuters and University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. The index rose 2.5 percent over the month to 77.5. However, "confidence has repeatedly failed to move above this level," according to the survey.

Freddie Mac's Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi) fell back nearly half a percentage point to 73.4 in its latest reading, the company reported earlier this week. According to the company, the decline "appear[ed] to be broad-based, and not concentrated in a handful of state or metro markets." As of the latest reading, Freddie Mac says the index is up 22.7 percent from its all-time low in 2011.

In its third estimate, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Friday that gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annualized rate of 4.6 percent in the second quarter. The figure marks a step up from the bureau's last estimate of 4.2 percent growth, which in turn was up from an advance guess of 4.0 percent.

As home values have made a rapid ascent in the past few years, those on the sales side point to lagging appraisal models as a major hurdle to finalizing transactions. In a newly released report, however, FNC maintains that despite anecdotal reports, "there is no strong evidence that low appraisal valuations contributed to mortgages falling through."

Technology expert Arny Epstein has joined the strategic advisory board at Pro Teck Valuation Services, the company announced.