News

Despite some slowdown in housing activity at the end of the first quarter, Fannie Mae projects that home sales will rise and the economy will continue to grow in 2012. Though the first quarter of the year saw substantial housing activity compared to last year, Fannie Mae's internal think tank noticed a drop in momentum late in the quarter. According to the group, this drop may be mirroring many economic indicators and may be a result of the year's unusually warm weather pulling activity slightly forward. Economic growth is at 2.2 percent.

Lawmakers came together with officers of Nationwide Title Clearing to discuss multiple issues in today's residential mortgage industry. In a company statement, NTC said that it hoped to offer the company's support as a resource as members of Congress strive to create industry-wide best practices.

HARP 2.0 is stimulating an uptick in mortgage applications for Bank of the West. The financial institution recently reported notable increases in loan applications during April as homeowners move to capitalize on the government's enhancements to the refinancing initiative. he California-based bank is currently predicting that roughly 20 percent of its loan volume for 2012 will come from refinancing borrowers taking advantage of HARP 2.0. Bank of the West has been savvy in its pursuit of homeowners interested in refinancing.

The median sales price for homes sold in April went up 3.2 percent higher than the month before, ticking up to $161,000, according to RE/MAX. The real estate company released a national housing report that tracked a 5.9 percent increase in median sales prices year-over-year. April also marked the third straight month that home prices went up year-over-year after close to two years of declines. Of 53 metro areas surveyed by RE/MAX, 43 reported higher sales prices last month than the year before, an increase from 36 metro areas in March.

In Wisconsin, LoanSifter has reason to celebrate, following the company's announcement that its revenues have grown during 22 consecutive quarters. Statistics from LoanSifter, a provider of product eligibility and pricing software solutions for the mortgage banking industry, indicate an 11.6 percent increase in revenue between the final quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of the current year.

The Southern California housing market continues to inch slowly toward recovery with a 5.1 percent increase in home sales year-over-year in April and the first year-over-year price increase reported in 16 months, according to DataQuick, a San Diego-based analytics firm. However, the market still relies heavily on investors as credit remains tight. Previously common mortgage loan products continue to make up a much smaller percentage of the market than they did over the last several years, according to DataQuick.

Interest rates for mortgage loans saw new, all-time lows this week as investors fled debt crises in Europe. Freddie Mac found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sliding to 3.79 percent, down from 3.83 percent last week and a far cry from 4.61 percent last year. The 15-year loan fell from 3.05 percent to 3.04 percent. Adjustable-rate mortgages went up. The finance Web site Bankrate.com likewise saw new record lows for mortgage rates, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropping below 4 percent for the first time by arriving at 3.97 percent.

First time claims were unchanged at 370,000 for the week ended May 12 after the number of initial claims filed for the previous week was revised upward, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected initial claims would decrease to 365,000. The Labor Department had initially reported 367,000 claims filed for the week ended May 5. The revision turned that report to an increase of 2,000 from a previously reported decline of 1,000. Continuing claims ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô reported on a one week lag ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô increased 18,000 to 3,265,000.

The Real Estate Roundtable's new quarterly survey demonstrated a lack of confidence in the outlook for 2012 among commercial real estate executives. According to data from the group's Sentiment Survey, the market improvements seen on a year-over-year basis aren't mitigating concerns surrounding global economic risks and tax issues in the commercial sector.

Colorado-based RE/MAX is being recognized for the expertise and efficiency of its agents. According to statistics from the 2012 REAL Trends 500 survey and the RIS Media Power Broker Report, RE/MAX's agents were the most productive in the business during 2011.