News

The Commerce Department reported on Thursday that sales of new homes in June were at an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of 406,000, reflecting a decline of 8.1 percent from May. May's sales rate, originally reported at 504,000, was revised down to 442,000, erasing much of the 18.6 percent gain that had been recorded previously.

Former Congressman Barney Frank testified before the House Committee on Financial Services on Wednesday, dismissing criticisms of his namesake Wall Street reform act. In the more than three hour long hearing, Frank and others faced tough questions on the effect that the act has had on the economy and the value of the changes when compared with the toll it takes on financial services firms.

Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) submitted a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asking the agency to expand the small creditor exemptions set out under its mortgage rules that went into effect in January. ICBA's main request is that mortgage loans held in small creditors' portfolios automatically receive qualified mortgage safe harbor status for as long as the loans are held in those portfolios.

Wells Fargo's Economics Group recently released its July 2014 economic outlook for Minnesota, reinforcing that while the state's economy is greatly improved, housing still lags behind, with traditional homebuyers in no great hurry to return to the market.

USFN, a legal and information resource network serving the mortgage industry, has recruited Michele Champion as director of education and marketing.

After experiencing a post-holiday decline, applications for home mortgages picked up again last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported. MBA's Market Composite Index, a weekly measure of mortgage loan application volumes, bumped up 2.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending July 18, the group said.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) monthly House Price Index (HPI) increased 0.4 percent in May from April, the agency reported Tuesday. Seasonally adjusted price changes from April to May ranged widely across the nine census divisions, from a low of -0.7 percent in the East South Central area to +1.1 percent in the West South Central division.

Economic growth so far this year has been "bittersweet" as housing takes a backseat in moving the recovery forward, Freddie Mac said Monday in its July 2014 Economic and Housing Outlook. But with employment bouncing back and household formations expected to improve, all is not last, says Freddie Mac VP and chief economist Frank Nothaft.

One of the pet reasons for explaining the lack of demand for houses among millennials is the presence of ever-escalating student loan debts. The thinking goes that college graduates are so mired in debt that they either cannot afford to buy or are too afraid to run up more debt. However, Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic, isn't buying it.

Joseph A. Smith Jr., who also oversees the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement between five major mortgage servicers and 49 states, said Tuesday that Chase has provided more than $6.3 million so far in credited consumer relief, with nearly $5.1 million coming from cuts to borrowers' principal loan amounts and the rest coming from forbearance actions.