News

According to figures released by the Census Bureau and HUD, privately owned housing starts last month were at an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of just more than 1 million, down 6.5 percent from April's slightly revised estimate of 1.07 million. The government's report presented mixed news on the single-family front: While starts were down nearly 6 percent to a rate of 625,000, April construction was stronger than originally reported.

Indecomm, a provider of consulting and outsourcing solutions for mortgage lending, retail banking, and other industries, has once again ranked among the top global outsourcing companies by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP).

Speaking before an audience at the National Housing Conference Annual Policy Symposium in Washington, D.C., Mary Miller, the Department of the Treasury's undersecretary for domestic finance, painted a grim picture of housing finance as it stands, noting any perceived health at the GSEs has been the result of circumstances that wouldn't be matched in the private market.

A lot of first-time homebuyers overestimate the amount of money they need for a down payment, and that might be holding them back, says Freddie Mac VP Christina Boyle. In a blog post, Boyle cites a Zelman & Associates research study that found respondents, on average, believe lenders require a down payment of at least 11 to 15 percent, including a large population of people who are in their "prime homebuying years."

The government released Friday its latest Housing Scorecard, once again showing cautious optimism as trends look more favorable. "May's Housing Scorecard shows that the housing market recovery is picking up after the harsh winter months," said HUD assistant secretary Katherine O'Regan. "More homeowners have positive equity, foreclosures continue their downward trend, and sales of new and existing homes are rebounding.

In St. Louis, Mortgage Returns recruited marketing and communications professional Kim Goldstone as director of marketing.

The latest Residential Price Index (RPI) report from FNC, Inc., shows home price appreciation continued in April at a monthly pace of 0.6 percent nationally, matching March's month-over-month increase. Though monthly increases picked up momentum in April, yearly returns continued to moderate for the second straight month—"a sign that the annual rate of home price appreciation has peaked," FNC said.

The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI), released Monday in collaboration with Wells Fargo, registered 49 this month, up from 45 in May. A value below 50 indicates more builders view market conditions as "poor" rather than "good." Despite falling one point short of the benchmark, the moderate uptick in sentiment "is a welcome sign and shows some renewed confidence in the industry," said NAHB chairman Kevin Kelly.

The University of Michigan's measure of consumer sentiment dropped from 81.9 to 81.2 in June with the decline entirely spurred by a decline in the expectations index. While expectations turned slightly sour in June, the current conditions index experienced an increase from 94.5 to 95.4.

Though employment numbers have been in recovery, in a recent blog post for the company, RealtyTrac senior staff writer Octavio Nuiry argues that there is more to unemployment than percentages, and that a hidden actor is depressing housing market growth. Specifically, what concerns Nuiry most is the huge number of people dropping out of the labor force.