In an effort to streamline the mortgage insurance application process, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) introduced several changes to its underwriting guidelines.
Read More »Home Inventory Declines Ease in July
Home inventories continue to decline in many markets across the country, but the pace of those declines appears to be slowing, which may in turn slow price appreciation in some markets, according to Realtor.com. National housing inventory declined 5.24 percent year-over-year in July, which is a slowdown from the 16.47 percent year-over-year decline reported in January. At the same time, the number of markets with declining inventory year-over-year decreased to 118 in July.
Read More »FirstREX Recruits Two New Hires to Grow Funding Program
FirstREX, a real estate equity finance firm operating out of San Francisco, has brought on Don Shewmaker and Jim McGuire to help the company meet growing demand for its down payment funding program, REX HomeBuyer.
Read More »Mortgage Master Opens New Virginia Location
Mortgage Master, a super-regional mortgage bank and one of the country's largest privately owned mortgage companies, announced the opening of a new retail branch location in Northern Virginia.
Read More »Realtor.com Unveils List of Top Turnaround Towns for Q2
Realtor.com released its list of the second quarter's top "turnaround towns" in terms of market recovery, and California once again dominated the list. More notable, however, was the presence of Detroit, which--despite its recent bankruptcy--showed a strong performance. In fact, Detroit may soon be "one of the most balanced markets in the nation," according to Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Move, an online real estate network. The Motor City claimed the No. 7 spot after its inventory age fell to 45 days.
Read More »Study: Americans Still Positive on Homeownership Following Crisis
Even after witnessing the aftermath of the housing collapse and the crisis that followed, Americans still hold positive perceptions of ownership, according to a research study from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Despite these initial findings, the Center says more research is necessary to determine both the perceived and actual non-financial benefits of homeownership after the housing crisis--especially given the government's commitment to homeownership for American families.
Read More »FDIC Announces Collapse of Wisconsin Bank
The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions closed on Friday the Bank of Wasau, appointing FDIC as receiver. As of June 30, the bank had approximately $40.7 million in deposits and $43.6 million in total assets.
Read More »Carrington Names New SVP, National Sales Director
The Wholesale Lending Division of Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC announced the appointment of industry veteran Rey Maninang to SVP and national sales director for the company's wholesale channel.
Read More »Builders Continue to Gain Confidence in 55+ Market
NAHB's 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI)--a measure of builder confidence in that particular market sector--increased 24 points over the same period last year.
Read More »Second Quarter Sees Prices Rising in 87% of Metros
The national median home price showed its strongest year-over-year gain in more than seven years last quarter, according to the latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR's data shows the median price of an existing single-family home increased 12.2 percent year-over-year to $203,500--the largest improvement since Q4 2005. Prices were boosted by shrinking market share of lower-priced homes and distressed sales (which accounted for 17 percent of last quarter's sales).
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