Tag Archives: Attorneys & Title Companies

Though the slow rate of household formation among millenials has been cause for alarm among some economists, analysts at Moody's Investors Service say reports of a "lost generation" are overblown.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it has issued a proposed consent order in its enforcement action against Castle & Cooke Mortgage, LLC. Under the terms of the order, Castle & Cooke has agreed to pay more than $9.2 million in restitution to consumers and $4 million in civil penalties to settle allegations that two of its officers--president Matthew Pineda and SVP of capital markets Buck Hawkins--paid illegal bonuses to loan officers based on the interest rates of loans offered to borrowers.

Speaking at the 2013 Realtors Conference & Expo Friday, National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun predicted steadiness in existing-home sales over the next year as prices continue to ascend. Looking over the past year, Yun said he expects existing-home sales to be up about 10 percent in 2013 to 5.13 million. Sales in 2014 are expected to hold fairly even at about 5.12 million. Reviewing price movements, he said the median existing-home price should end 2013 about 11 percent higher than 2012.

The University of Michigan's preliminary Index of Consumer Sentiment report shows a drop in confidence for November--and Capital Economics' Amna Asaf is at a loss to explain why.

With reports showing home prices reaching five-year highs coming out on a near-monthly basis, home sellers this year have been aggressive in pricing their listings on the market. However, new data from technology-powered broker Redfin shows more and more sellers have had to dial back their expectations. Only about one in seven sellers had to resort to reducing their listing price in order to move their property, Redfin reported. However, that number has steadily risen to one in four as of September.

In the midst of an ongoing political debate surrounding their future, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to see strong profits.

Despite the partial government shutdown threatening growth, the nation's economy added 204,000 jobs in October, with prior months seeing major upward revisions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed Friday in its Employment Situation Report. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg put out a median forecast of 120,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs.

RealtyTrac, a California-based information provider for the housing industry, announced the appointment of e-commerce specialist David Towers as SVP of revenue generation and operations.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued Wednesday an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on guidelines related to the debt collection industry. "For decades, many consumers have reported various unacceptable practices in the debt collection industry. Today's action will allow us to hear from the public as we consider what rules are needed," said Richard Cordray, director of the CFPB. The bureau also announced it will begin adding consumer complaints about debt collections to its public database.

Asking prices rose 12.5 percent year-over-year in October blue metros and 11.1 percent in red metros, according to the Trulia Price Monitor.