Tag Archives: Investors

ZipRealty analyzed two years' worth of multiple listing service data and Census Bureau information to come up with a list of the top 10 most affordable housing markets of 2013. The coveted title of "Most Affordable Market of 2013" goes to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where the median sales price is 5.27 times the median household income. Meanwhile, metros located on or close to the coasts make up the list of least affordable areas. Washington, D.C., takes the top spot, with the average median price costing 16.78 times the average household income.

Women are less likely to be approved for mortgage loans than their male counterparts, even when loan-to-income ratios are equal, according to a new study from the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based, nonprofit research and policy organization. The findings reveal an 8 percent disparity between the likelihood of a woman and man with similar loan-to-income ratios receiving a purchase loan and a 21 percent disparity among approval rates for male and female refinance applicants.

Unexpectedly positive employment and spending data drove mortgage rates to their highest level since August last week, according to Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell 10,000 to 332,000 for the week ending March 9, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected 350,000 initial unemployment claims. The drop in filings the third in the last four weeks resumed a downward trend in layoffs.

House prices increased 9.7 percent year-over-year in January, continuing a recent trend, and prices show "no signs of an imminent slowdown," according to Capital Economics.

Leads360, a leader in cloud-based intelligent sales automation solutions based in Los Angeles, announced the addition of industry vet Kelly Booth as director of the company's mortgage unit.

Effective immediately, Bank of Commerce Mortgage will be called simply Commerce Mortgage. According to a press release, the name change is consistent with the terms of the re-acquisition of 51 percent of the equity back from Bank of Commerce Holdings, which sold back the ownership position to the partners of Simonich Corporation, Scott Simonich and Mario De Tomasi.

Caldwell Partners released a new white paper addressing a crucial issue in the mortgage industry: the lack of knowledgeable leaders able to manage their business' new needs.

Los Angeles-based CBRE Group, Inc., once again earned top honors as the highest-ranked commercial real estate services and investment company in Fortune Magazine, the company announced. In addition, the firm was named the No. 1 commercial real estate brand in Lipsey Company's annual brand survey for the 12th consecutive occasion. The survey measures commercial real estate professionals' perceptions of the industry's leading brands.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's December 2012 Refinance Report shows refinance volume under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) was 76,461 in the year's final month.