Tag Archives: Housing Affordability

Housing starts rose 1.5 percent in January to 699,000, compared with market expectations for a smaller increase to 675,000. Housing starts are 9.9 percent above their year ago level but still 69.2 percent below their January 2006 peak. Single-family housing starts fell 1.0 percent to 508,000. Starts fell month-month in the colder northeast and Midwest but increased in the south and west. Single-family starts are 16.2 percent above levels of a year ago but still 72.1 percent below their January 2006 peak. Single-family starts have averaged 491,000 per month.

Mortgage application volume fell 1 percent from the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Releasing the latest weekly figures, the trade group said that mortgage applications remained unchanged on a seasonally unadjusted basis.The Refinance Index went up by 0.8 percent to crest at the highest level since August last year, while the Purchase Index contracted by 8.4 percent from the week before. It fell by 3.3 percent on an unadjusted basis.

The mortgage subsidiary for Citigroup settled claims that it misrepresented government-backed loans Wednesday by agreeing to pay $158.3 million in damages. The payout means that CitiMortgage acknowledges that it qualified nearly 30,000 bad loans for government insurance, a move that bilked the Federal Housing Administration out of millions of dollars as more than 30 percent of the mortgages went into default. The settlement resolves a suit filed by the civil fraud unit at the office of Manhattan U.S. attorney.

Modifications to the Home Affordable Refinance Program will likely benefit small loan originators this year, even while refinance share of activity beats market expectations, FBR Capital Markets said in a note Wednesday. Paul Miller, an analyst with the research arm of the investment bank, attributed the information to D.C. insiders and government contacts, which hold that approximately 3.5 million to 4 million loans will enter the refinance program this year.

Negative equity, tight mortgage credit, and an overhang of foreclosed properties conspire to delay a full-fledged housing rebound and economic recovery, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday. He said that the inability ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô or unwillingness ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô of lenders to lend puts the brakes on much-needed activity by first-time and repeat homebuyers. He cited a contraction in mortgage credit outstanding for U.S. homes by about 13 percent, with mortgage originators reluctant to lend to otherwise eligible borrowers.

More than a year's worth of rumors, negotiations, and reversals concluded Thursday with a $26-billion mega-settlement between government officials and the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós five largest mortgage servicers. The size and scope of the settlement makes it the largest endeavor by state and federal officials in U.S. history. Federal officials and 49 state attorneys general closed a deal with Ally Financial Corp., Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo that supplies homeowners in distress with new relief and establishes new servicing standards.

More Americans expect that home prices will recover over the course of 2012, just as they believe that mortgage rates will remain at all-time lows and more think the economy will enter an upswing. Mortgage giant Fannie Mae said in a January National Housing Survey that 28 percent of Americans believe that home prices will rise over the next year by 1 percent, up from 2 percent last month. Of the survey respondents, 8 percent said that interest rates for mortgage loans will decline in 2012, down 2 percent from December.

A financial fraud task force cleared a final rule Tuesday that requires nonbank mortgage lenders and originators to report suspicious activity related to mortgage fraud. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said that originators and lenders will need to report any suspected fraudulent activity to the organization on an annual and quarterly basis. The new rule reflects the scope of authority undertaken by the Obama administration as it pursues mortgage and financial fraud. The new rule will take effect in two months.

Homebuilder confidence in the single-family market ended the fourth quarter last year on a climb uphill as the wider economy showed improvement. The National Association of Home Builders released a market index Tuesday that recorded a four-point increase year-over-year to 18 for homebuilders in the single-family sector. The index fielded improvements across the board year-over-year, with confidence about current sales ticking up four points to 17 and anticipated sales for the next six months up two points to 26.

Nearly 85 percent of refinancing homeowners with first-lien loans maintained or reduced their current payments by paying in additional cash in the fourth quarter last year. Of these, according to recent analysis by mortgage giant Freddie Mac, 49 percent of borrowers slashed their principal payments by refinancing at current rates, compared with 37 percent who preserved their payments. So-called cash-out borrowers accounted for 15 percent of all refinance loans, the lowest percentage in the 26-year history of the GSE's analysis.