News

Speaking at an industry symposium recently, Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council for the White House, stressed the importance of securitization in the housing market, saying it makes mortgages cheaper and enables banks to free up limited capital to support additional home purchases and other forms of lending. However, he says the current securitization market is in need of major reforms.

Home prices are keeping with their trend of slow, but steady, month-to-month improvements. CoreLogic's October Home Price Index (HPI) reveals a 0.2 percent month-month rise in the national home price but a 12.5 percent year-year increase. October marked the 20th straight month of annual price gains, according to CoreLogic, which conceded in its latest report that appreciation was beginning to fall more in line with normal seasonal patterns.

While analysts across the industry are reporting waning price gains as we head toward winter, Clear Capital also points out another interesting and perhaps counterintuitive trend occurring in the housing market. Prior to the recovery, high saturations of distressed sales correlated with falling prices, but today's market reveals a switch, with high levels of distressed sales taking place alongside higher price gains.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have aligned their master policies for mortgage insurance. Among the new requirements incorporated by each GSE are provisions to facilitate faster and more consistent claims processing, specific time frame mandates, and standards for when coverage must be maintained and when it may be revoked. The new policies are expected to take effect in 2014.

Kansas City-based Martin, Leigh, Laws & Fritzlen, P.C., was awarded USFN's Award of Excellence for the fourth consecutive year. The Award of Excellence is given annually to USFN member firms that meet rigorous standards which evaluate professional activities, industry volunteerism, and community and charitable involvement.

Title365 Company, a provider of title insurance and escrow services based in California, announced the hiring of Jeremy Harmon as SVP of national sales. Harmon has spent nearly 20 years in the industry.

Bank of America has agreed to pay Freddie Mac $404 million to be released from existing and future repurchase claims on approximately 716,000 loans originated in the last decade by BofA and sold to the GSE. The payment also compensates Freddie Mac for past and future mortgage insurance-related losses on the loans, but doesn't cover loan servicing obligations or private-label securities.

To address widespread negative equity, at least 15 cities and counties are considering using eminent domain to seize underwater homes and lower borrowers' mortgage principal balances, according to the Urban Institute. The institute conducted a study to see what commonalities these communities share and found that all 15 suffer from high levels of poverty and unemployment, stagnant incomes, and low housing prices.

Home prices and home sales have been rising over the past few years, pointing to a recovery in the housing market, but some warn that what we are seeing may not be a true recovery but instead a mirage created by investors--a dangerous mirage that could lead to trouble in the years to come. According to multiple industry studies, cash purchases made up about half of all home sales across the nation in September.

After taking a sharp dive in October, consumer confidence continued to decline at a more moderate pace in November, indicating the level of uncertainty that still grips the country. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index dropped two points to 70.4 in the most recent reading. The decline follows a more substantial nine point decrease in October stemming from the partial federal government shutdown.