Tag Archives: Investors

Bank of America and Citigroup both released their fourth-quarter earnings Thursday, revealing the scars their legacy mortgage issues have left. BofA reported net income of $732 million, a significant decline from $2 billion in Q4 2011. The bank did better on a year-long scale, coming in at $4.2 billion (well above its $1.4 billion income in 2011). Legal expenses also weighed down profits at Citigroup, though the company did manage to come out ahead on a yearly basis with a $1.2 billion profit in Q4.

A week after releasing its "qualified mortgage" guidelines, the CFPB is issuing more rules designed to clean up servicing practices.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance plunged 37,000 for the week ending January 12 to 335,000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to drop to 368,000 from the prior week.

Builders broke ground on new homes at a yearly rate of 954,000 in December, a 12.1 percent jump over November and the highest rate since July 2008, the Census Bureau and HUD reported jointly Thursday. Applications for residential permits rose a modest 0.3 percent, and residential completions rose 1.6 percent. Single-family starts rose in December to a rate of 616,000, the strongest pace since June 2008. According to the data, multi-family starts rose in December to a pace of 330,000 from November's revised 268,000.

The mortgage lending division of Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC, is expanding its offerings to include Streamline Federal Housing Administration (FHA) 203k loans through its retail and wholesale businesses.

The housing market in California's Southland region closed out 2012 with the highest number of December home sales in three years, real estate information company DataQuick reports. According to DataQuick, a total of 20,274 new and resale homes and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Orange counties in December. The month's total was 5.1 percent up from November and 5.3 percent up from December 2011.

Closing rates on all types of mortgage loans increased in December, according to data from Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report.

Economic activity "expanded" in the closing weeks of 2012, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book released Wednesday, reflecting a slow but steadily declining unemployment rate and low rates of inflation--conditions the Fed said would have to be met before it raises interest rates. According to the report, "real estate activity has expanded or held steady in 11 Districts for existing home sales and leasing; eight Districts for residential construction; 11 Districts for nonresidential sales and leasing; and nine Districts for nonresidential construction."

The CFPB's long-awaited qualified mortgage standards have been unveiled, and Capital Economics says the new rules "will not hamper the housing recovery."

According to its quarterly filing, JPMorgan took in $5.7 billion in net income during 2012's final quarter, up 53 percent from the same quarter in 2011. Revenue for the quarter was $24.4 billion, up 10 percent compared with the prior year. Much of that profit came on the bank of JPMorgan's strengthened mortgage business. The bank's mortgage banking division reported originations of $51.2 billion in Q4, up 33 percent year-over-year and 8 percent quarter-over-quarter.