News

A jury has convicted Maryland woman Annika Boas for her role in a residential mortgage fraud scheme. According to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, Boas stood accused of working with other defendants to falsify or steal identity documents to secure residential mortgage loans.

After jumping up last week, mortgage rates were weighed down in the latest measure by mixed housing developments. Freddie Mac released Thursday the results of its Primary mortgage Market Survey, showing the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) easing to an average interest rate of 4.20 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending September 25. The 30-year FRM averaged 4.23 percent in the previous week's survey, a four-month high.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Fannie Mae revealed that Terence W. Edwards, currently COO and EVP, has notified the company of his intent to leave sometime during the first half of 2015.

Signs increasingly point to economic momentum building in the coming year, according to economists at TD Bank. In a forecast put out Thursday, the bank's economics team calls for economic growth of 3.0 percent in 2015 following average growth of 2.2 percent this year.

Home sales in August retreated annually for the fourth straight month as home prices ticked up to a six-year high, RealtyTrac revealed Thursday in its latest sales report. According to the company's data, U.S. residential properties, including single-family homes, condos, and townhomes, sold at an estimated annual rate of 4.5 million last month, down half a percent from July and 16 percent from August 2013.

Property information firm CoreLogic reported that nearly 946,000 homes returned to positive equity in the second quarter, meaning the mortgage holders owe less on their loan than the property's worth. With the most recent quarterly increase, CoreLogic estimates the total number of mortgaged homes with equity across the country has surpassed 44 million.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling earlier this week pounced on a GAO report criticizing CFPB's data collection practices, accusing the bureau of "trying to out-NSA the NSA when it comes to accumulating information on Americans." The report came as a result of legislation passed by Congress in January that required GAO to look into CFPB's data collection methods following CFPB's refusal to disclose information about its program to Congress, according to Hensarling.

Examining August activity in more than 30 markets nationwide, Redfin reported a 1.4 percent month-over-month dip in home sale prices to a median $281,000, reflecting a gain of just 5.1 percent over last year. More interesting, Redfin said, was the shift in supply and demand dynamics: Even as new listings plunged 9.3 percent—nearly triple the average July-to-August decline—numbers of customers touring homes and making offers rose, demonstrating buyers aren't backing off.

As government data points to depreciating home prices in certain areas of the country, a new survey released this week shows more than half of Americans still expect prices to increase over the next 12 months. "Housing, like the stock market, is something consumers look to as an indicator for whether things are headed in the right direction," said Greg McBride, CFA, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.

Clayton Holdings, a Connecticut-based provider of loan due diligence, surveillance, and consulting services to the mortgage industry, announced the addition of John Maco to its team in the position of senior managing director of business development.