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Bidding Wars Begin to Cool in Some Markets

A report from Redfin shows 73 percent of offers in April faced competition, down from a peak of 79 percent in February but slightly up from 70 percent last April. Two markets that cooled from March to April were San Francisco and Washington DC, where bidding-war rates fell 0.8 and 5.8 percentage points, Redin reported. The report also found the most common components of a winning offer were: conventional loan (61.7 percent) and a higher-than-asking offer price (51.9 percent).

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NAR: Median Income for Realtors Recovering with Housing Market

As the housing market improves, so has the income for Realtors, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Median gross income for Realtors increased 25 percent to $43,500 in 2012, up from $34,900 in 2011, the association reported. Most NAR members (56 percent) are licensed as sales agents, while 27 percent are brokers. The findings are from the 2013 National Association of Realtors Member Profile, which surveyed 58,068 NAR members.

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Freddie Mac: Financial Assets Can Be Used as Qualifying Income

Freddie Mac is hoping to spread information about a rule that allows people to leverage financial assets such as retirement accounts as qualifying income when applying for mortgage loans.Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), 401(k)s, distributions from retirement accounts, and funds acquired from the sale of a business can all contribute to a potential borrower's qualifying income, according to Freddie Mac. In order to contribute to a borrower's qualifying income, these financial assets must be accessible.

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New York Bound for Economic Recovery Despite Foreclosure Backlog

New York may be dealing with a heavy foreclosure burden, but the state is still bound for a strong economic recovery, according to a report released by HUD and Treasury. While foreclosures are improving across the country, New York has remained a concern due to its long foreclosure timelines and backlog of distressed inventory. Despite the obstacle, a report from the Obama administration highlighted factors that show how the market has proven itself in other ways. For one, the New York metropolitan area is the largest job market in the nation, and the area has shown economic resilience through the Great Recession.

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Autos Boost April Retail Sales; Retail Space Under Siege

Driven by stronger auto sales but held back by falling gasoline prices, total retail sales increased an unexpected 0.1 percent in April Census Bureau reported Monday. Economists had expected sales to fall 0.3 percent. In March, retail sales fell a revised 0.

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Commentary: Seven Little Words

""Fiscal policy,"" simply put, is the means by which a government adjusts its levels of spending in order to monitor and influence a nation's economy. At the heart of the spending/growth disparity is a philosophical debate over the role of government: those who believe government should be run like a business and avoid debt and those who see the role of government as spending counter-cyclically, that is increasing spending when the nation's economy is challenged to avoid further struggles. direct a country's economic goals.

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Report: Payment Reduction Key to Mod’s Sustainability

While the likelihood of re-defaulting on a HAMP modification is smaller compared to private sector modifications, borrowers can become disqualified from the program if they miss three consecutive payments. According to the most recent Making Home Affordable Program report for March released by Treasury, the key to strengthening the chances a borrower won't become disqualified is to provide a significant payment reduction. ""Payment reduction is strongly correlated with permanent modification sustainability,"" the report concluded.

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Fed’s Duke Addresses Concerns for Borrowers with Low Credit Scores

While originations are down across the board, ""[t]he drop in originations has been most pronounced among borrowers with lower credit scores,"" said Federal Reserves Governor Elizabeth A. Duke. From 2007 to 2012, purchase originations among borrowers with credit scores higher than 780 declined by 30 percent. In contrast, purchase originations for borrowers with credit scores between 620 and 680 declined by 90 percent, and originations among borrowers with credit scores below 620 were ""virtually nonexistent,"" according to Duke.

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More than 2.2M Foreclosure Review Checks Cashed, 3.9M Sent

As the stream of foreclosure review settlement checks continue to be released, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) provided another update on the status of the checks' whereabouts. So far, after unleashing the first round of payments April 12, more than 2.2 million recipients have cashed or deposited more than $2 billion in checks as of May 9.

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