Tag Archives: Attorneys & Title Companies

On net, a "moderate fraction" of banks polled in the Fed's Senior Loan Officer Survey reported easing standards on prime residential mortgages from August to October, with a net 8.8 percent saying credit standards have "eased somewhat." Among large banks, a net 26.5 percent reported somewhat looser standards. Meanwhile, however, demand has declined for both prime and nontraditional mortgages as mortgage rates bounce upward. Among all respondents, a net 7.2 percent reported moderately or substantially weaker demand.

Findings released in the National Association of Realtors├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó (NAR) annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers survey demonstrate what industry experts have been saying since the housing market started to pick up: Access to credit is going to have to loosen before mortgage-dependent homebuyers can make a more meaningful contribution to the recovery. According to NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, conditions are especially restrictive for single and first-time buyers.

Joseph Cuomo, SVP and director of business development for online real estate marketplace Auction.com, has been recognized by Real Estate Forum magazine as one of the commercial real estate industry's Top 45 Under 40.

With recent predictions forecasting a falloff in home price increases over the next year, gains nevertheless continued at a strong pace in September, CoreLogic reported Tuesday in its monthly Home Price Index (HPI) report. The company recorded a 12 percent annual gain in its HPI (including distressed sales) for September, representing the 19th straight monthly year-over-year increase and bringing the index to its highest point since May 2008.

With Fannie Mae enacting tighter requirements on eligibility for loan purchases, experts at the Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center are speaking out against the move. In a blog post on the Urban Institute's Metro Trends Blog site, the center's Laurie Goodman and Taz George said, "This change places yet another barrier in front of low- and moderate-income families, who are already facing a tightening credit box." They also commented that if Fannie Mae's intent was to reduce risk, "this was a crude way to accomplish it."

Sun West Mortgage Company, Inc., is now leveraging AllReg's technology and publishing expertise to manage and maintain its underwriting guidelines, the companies announced.

Fannie Mae has released its September book of business, revealing further declines as new business acquisitions came to their lowest level in more than a year.

Homebuyers shook off their fears and returned to the market in force following the re-opening of the government in October, according to data presented by Redfin's Research Center. Despite reports of consumer confidence waning, Redfin customers seemed relatively unfazed. "My clients think the ugly showdown we saw in October is unlikely to happen again," reported Philip Gvinter, a Redfin agent based in Washington, D.C. "After putting their home search on hold during the shutdown, they are ready to get back out there."

Rob Katz has joined ReverseVision's team as EVP of sales, the company announced.

The majority of Americans are willing to sacrifice on living space if it means living closer to their most-visited spots, according to findings released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).