Tag Archives: Lenders & Servicers

Home prices rose to their highest levels in almost five years in May, increasing by a non-seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday. The 20-city index was up 12.2 percent from a year earlier, and the companion 10-city index was up 11.8 percent. For the month, the 10-city index rose 2.5 percent and the 20-city index was up 2.4 percent. The two surveys have improved month-over-month and year-over-year for 12 consecutive months.

Americans hold a more positive view of the housing market, while an increasing share of renters plan to own, according to the 2013 National Housing Pulse Survey from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Of those surveyed, 80 percent said they believe buying a home is a good financial decision, up by 8 points from 2011. Meanwhile, the percentage of those who say they prefer to rent over buying dropped 6 points since 2011 to 25 percent.

LRES announced the latest version of LRES DirectConnect, an integration framework enabling clients and third-party systems to integrate into the LRES LINK order management platform.

Based on transactions recorded in May, Lender Processing Services' Home Price Index rose to a reading of $226,000, an increase of 7.9 percent over May 2012. The index has climbed 5.6 percent since December of last year. For yet another month, the West dominated the list of metros reporting price month-over-month increases. The top spot was Las Vegas, posting a 3.2 percent gain. Following that were San Francisco, Reno, and Sacramento--each with a 2.5 percent increase--followed by several smaller California markets.

Stewart Title Guaranty Company announced the appointment of Brett Kline as underwriting counsel for the Carolinas.

In a poll of buyers planning to purchase a home within the next two years, Realtor.com found that three out of five respondents will consider school boundaries when choosing their next home.

Wells Fargo Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co., will exit from its eight mortgage joint ventures in mortgage lending due to "the current regulatory and market environment," the company announced Thursday.

Prospective buyers have had to step up their game as the market continues to grow more competitive.

In California, Prospect Mortgage, LLC named veteran mortgage finance professional Amy Brandt as COO.

President Obama embarked this week on a series of speeches designed to highlight the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós continued economic stress. The immediate response and from both ends of the political spectrum was to decry his efforts as same-old, same-old. And, it is true the President has made this pitch before, emphasizing that the significant progress has made is not enough.