Tag Archives: Investors

Given that nearly all the news about the homebuying market these past few years has focused on tight markets, lower-than-expected activity, and mortgages that keep circling the drain, it may seem easy to overlook a basic question—is anyone buying second homes these days? As it turns out, yes.

Cash sales declined year-over-year in Q1 in 102 of the 126 metro areas Zillow observes. "[I]t's heartening to see more buyers armed with traditional financing begin to enter the market," said Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow. "This is a critical step on the way back to a more normal, balanced housing market." Despite the recent trend, "it's pretty clear that cash is still king, especially at the lower end of the market," according to Humphries.

A new report from RealtyTrac indicates all-cash home sales accounted for 42.7 percent of first-quarter purchases, a record high since the company started tracking the data in 2011. "Strict lending standards combined with low inventory continue to give the advantage to investors and other cash buyers in this housing market," said Daren Blomquist, VP at RealtyTrac.

According to estimates from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), total existing-home sales in March came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million, a 0.2 percent slip from February’s downwardly revised pace of 4.60 million and hitting a nearly two-year low. Compared to March 2013, the sales rate was down 7.5 percent.

A new group has launched on the side of shareholders in the ongoing debate for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Calling itself the “Coalition for Mortgage Security,” the group describes itself as a bipartisan, grassroots organization with the goal of reforming housing finance “in a way that benefits and fairly treats current and future homeowners, taxpayers, and investors across the country.”

Existing-home sales slowed last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million—their lowest level in a year and a half—as ongoing inventory constraint lifted prices, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Friday. The drop represents a 5.1 percent decline compared to both December and January last year. On just the single-family side, sales were down to a rate of 4.05 million.

Although the new qualified mortgage (QM) rules are expected to bring stability to loan manufacturing, the many nuances of compliance have resulted in doubling the cost of loan origination. This assessment was offered by Tom Showalter, chief analytics officer at Digital Risk. In an interview on Mortgage Markets Today, Showalter explained the threat of ""manufacturing risk,"" or the risk that key elements of data defining the loan are either corrupted or misrepresented.

The nation's second largest lender is reportedly cutting 450 jobs in its West Coast offices, according to Bloomberg. ""These notifications have been ongoing and reflect our previously announced efforts to reduce our size, resolve legacy issues and simplify our company,"" said Dan Frahm, a spokesman for Bank of America. The lender is still hiring in non-mortgage areas, and some employees will find jobs in other parts of the firm, he said.

A recently released audit of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's handling of aged repurchase demands finds the enterprises' fee collecting has been inconsistent--or in some cases nonexistent. ""By inconsistently waiving, enforcing, and excepting late fees through 2012, the Enterprise missed assessing up to $284 million in late fees that are now unlikely to be collected–losses that taxpayers ultimately bore,"" the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Office of the Inspector General (FHFAOIG) commented in the report.

Valuation Vision (V2), a provider of alternative valuation products and tech solutions nationwide, announced the hiring of Brandon Goldstein as managing director of capital markets.