Tag Archives: Investors

First time claims for unemployment insurance dropped to the lowest level in five years, falling 19,000 to 326,000 for the week ended July 27, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected the number of claims to drop to edge up to 345,000, from the 343,000 originally reported for the week ended July 20.

While rising mortgage rates have set potential homebuyers scrambling, a poll from Redfin finds sellers are also concerned about the development. According to the survey, 47 percent of sellers said they are worried about a spike in rates driving down buyer demand, up from 23 percent in the last poll. An increasing percentage of homeowners are also anticipating larger price gains, though concerns over rising prices eased, falling from 32 percent to 29 percent quarter-over-quarter.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Solvency Act of 2013 (S. 1376) is headed to the Senate after receiving approval from the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Despite concerns about rising mortgage rates and low inflation, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted Wednesday to continue its policy of near-zero interest rates and its $85-billion-per-month bond-buying program. In a subtle change of language, the committee "reaffirmed its view that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends."

DocuTech Corp., a compliance and documentation technology provider headquartered in Idaho, hired Frank Colson as product manager.

June saw a decline in the number of private mortgage insurance policies issued, though dollar volume for those policies increased, according to the latest monthly report from Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA). Member companies issued a combined 49,666 insurance certificates, down from 52,545 in May. June's decline was the first since February. While policies fell, dollar volume rose, jumping to nearly $12.3 billion from May's $12.0 billion.

Mortgage application volume declined last week at a more sudden rate than in previous weeks, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Commercial and multifamily loan originations are up both quarterly and over the year, according to MBA's Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Originations.

Veros, a provider of collateral valuation technology, enterprise risk management, and predictive analytics, announced an update to its VeroSCORE appraisal risk scoring tool.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased for the third straight month in June, pulled back to 80.3 in July as its two sub-components moved in different directions. "Consumer Confidence fell slightly in July, precipitated by a weakening in consumers' economic and job expectations," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. "Consumers' assessment of current conditions continues to gain ground and expectations remain in expansionary territory despite the July retreat."