News

Buyer demand continues to climb as 2013 marches on, according to results in Redfin's most recent Real-Time Demand Pulse.

CoreLogic's Home Price Index (HPI) saw its greatest yearly increase in nearly seven years in January, the analytics provider revealed Tuesday. Home prices nationwide--including distressed sales--rose on a year-over-year basis by 9.7 percent in January. The spike represents the biggest increase since April 2006, CoreLogic said. CoreLogic's Pending HPI, a metric measuring current trends in home prices, indicates that prices (including distressed sales) in February will likely match January's year-over-year improvement.

While Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), anticipates the gradual reduction of the GSEs in the housing market, he does not believe either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will exit conservatorship and return to the private sector. As such, FHFA's goals for this year expand on last year's three main goals of building an infrastructure for the future of the secondary market, contracting the GSEs' role in the market, and maintaining the GSEs' foreclosure prevention and credit availability efforts.

First Financial Network, an Oklahoma City-based loan sale advisor, recently announced the addition of a new SVP of business development. First Financial welcomes Tim Buss, an industry veteran who began his career in 1987.

National asking home prices have risen 7.0 percent year-over-year since bottoming out last February, Trulia revealed in its February Price Monitor Report. Seasonally adjusted, asking prices increased about 1.4 percent from January and 3.0 percent quarter-over-quarter, marking two post-recession highs. Nationally, inventory fell 23 percent year-over-year in February. Jed Kolko, Trulia's chief economist, explained that while falling inventory boosts prices, the relationship works both ways.

Vericrest Financial, Inc., announced it has completed onboarding two new portfolios of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs).

Two fellows at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) assert that the QM rule is "simply another and more direct way for the government to keep mortgage underwriting standards low."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will continue to maintain their dominant role in the housing market, according to a report from Fitch Ratings.

Mortgage debt for U.S. households was roughly unchanged quarter-over-quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Household Debt and Credit report. Mortgage debt stood at $8.03 trillion in Q4, making up the largest component of household debt. At the same time, overall consumer debt increased by $31 billion to $11.34 trillion, a slight 0.3 percent increase from the third quarter. Despite the growth, the report noted consumer debt has still seen a significant decline after peaking at $12.68 trillion.

Increased profits at home improvement outlets underscore Fitch Ratings' view that the housing recovery is in its early stages.