Driven by stronger auto sales but held back by falling gasoline sales, total retail sales increased 0.6 percent in May, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Excluding auto sales, retail activity increased 0.3 percent in May compared with April, when it was essentially flat.
Read More »Report: Inventory Crunch Showing Signs of Easing
The overall number of listings on Zillow was down 12.2 percent year-over-year at the start of June, an improvement from the 17.5 percent shortfall recorded in January.
Read More »First-Time Jobless Filings Continue Down
First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell to 334,000 for week ending June 8, dropping 12,000 after decreasing 11,000 one week earlier, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected initial claims to increase to 350,000 from the prior week. Claims filings for the week ending June 1 remained at the originally reported 346,000.
Read More »First Quarter Sees Significant Decline in Underwater Borrowers
Significant improvements in home values helped lift 850,000 borrowers out of negative equity in the first quarter, CoreLogic reported. Overall, 9.7 million borrowers, or 19.8 percent of all residential mortgages, were underwater in the first quarter of 2013, down from 10.5 million, or 21.7 percent of all mortgages, according to the data provider's estimate.
Read More »FGMC Adds Division, Opens Florida Fulfillment Center
First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. (FGMC) announced it has added a division in its Third Party Originator (TPO) created to focus on United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Program loans as well as manufactured housing loans under Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Affairs (VA), and conventional loan programs.
Read More »Survey: Growing Number of Applications Submitted During Work Hours
A majority of people applying for mortgage loans online are applying during work hours, according to a recent survey by MortgageMarvel.com.
Read More »Mortgage Fraud Risk Inches Up in Q1, Purchase Fraud Leads Refinances
Mortgage fraud risk edged up slightly in the first quarter of 2013, Interthinx revealed in its latest quarterly Mortgage Fraud Risk Report. California was the riskiest state in the nation, boasting a mortgage fraud risk index of 125. The report also shows that purchase mortgages have a higher fraud risk than refinances, with index values of 118 and 88, respectively. In addition, 10 states are in the "very high risk" category when considering only purchase loans.
Read More »Bidding Wars Ease in May as Inventory Rises
Redfin agents reported 69.5 percent of offers written in May faced competition, a decrease from 73.3 percent in April.
Read More »DataQuick Vet Promoted to SVP
DataQuick, a real estate solutions provider, announced the promotion of Rich Kuegler to SVP of branch production for DataQuick Title (formerly Rels Title).
Read More »BankersLab Launches Credit-Focused Learning App
Out of San Diego, BankersLab announced the launch of Bank-it: Credit Edition, the latest in its suite of mobile learning apps for retail lending professionals.
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