In its mid-year multifamily outlook for 2013, Freddie Mac notes that multifamily market fundamentals such as rents and vacancies continue to improve, with New York, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, and Los Angeles all seeing marked growth. At the same time, supply presents a problem, the analysts said. While starts have seen growth over the last several years, completions are still lagging, and the gap between the two measures continues to grow wider.
Read More »MBA Releases Commercial Servicer Rankings
Wells Fargo is the largest servicer of commercial and multifamily mortgages by dollar volume as of the end of June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
Read More »Asking Prices Lose Steam in July
Trulia reported a 0.3 percent decline in asking prices from June to July--the first drop since November 2012. While monthly changes can be volatile, Trulia explained the quarter-over-quarter change in asking prices confirms the slowdown, with July asking prices improving just 3.3 percent over the last quarter compared to the peak of 4.2 percent in April. Over the last year, asking prices were still strong, rising 11 percent, though Trulia noted the change won't be as apparent since the annual average is based on a longer time period.
Read More »PEMCO in Final Stage of New Site Launch
PEMCO, an asset management company headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, will launch a new website August 13.
Read More »Fannie Mae Posts $10.1B Quarterly Profit
Fannie Mae's second-quarter profits nearly doubled year-over-year, the GSE reported. The company reported Thursday net income of $10.1 billion in Q2 2013 compared to $5.1 billion for Q2 2012.
Read More »Realty Pilot Adds to Crew
Realty Pilot, an enterprise software development and data analytics company headquartered in Arizona, expanded its business development and support team with three additional members.
Read More »Mortgage Rates Mixed in Wake of July Jobs Numbers
It was a mixed week for mortgage rate reports following the release of July's employment numbers, which showed job growth coming in below the market consensus forecast.
Read More »Index of Improving Markets Drops to 247
The number of markets listed on the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Improving Markets Index (IMI) continued to decline in August, though the index still sits well ahead of where it was last year, the association reported. "While the number of improving housing markets this August remains well ahead of the same month last year, the index is affected by seasonal softening in home prices just as we saw happen in 2012," explained NAHB chief economist David Crowe.
Read More »First-Time Jobless Claims Up, Still Below Expectations
First-time claims for unemployment insurance increased 5,000 to 333,000 for the week ending August 3, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected the number of claims to drop to climb to 336,000 from the 326,000 originally reported for the week ending July 27. The number of filings for that week was revised to 328,000, the lowest level since early May.
Read More »Freddie Mac Reports $5B Profit in Q2
According to Freddie Mac's quarterly earnings report, Q2 2013 net income totaled $5.0 billion, up about $407 million over the first quarter.
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