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Author Archives: Esther Cho

Two Connecticut Towns Partner with CSC to Offer eRecording

Two towns in Connecticut teamed up with Corporation Service Company (CSC) to transition into electronic recording for real estate and land use records. The towns of Manchester and Farmington now accept eRecording, which allows recording offices to reduce costs, eliminate payments errors, and receive prompt payments.

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RE/MAX to Go Public with $100M Offering

RE/MAX filed paperwork with the SEC Monday for its proposed $100 million public offering. Founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, RE/MAX is represented in more 90 countries and has over 90,000 agents.

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First Mortgage Default Rate Inches Up in July

National default rates inched up in July, with first mortgages showing a slight increase, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. For the first time this year, the default rate for first mortgages increased. In July, the default rate was 1.25 percent, up from 1.23 percent in June. The first mortgage default rate though is still down compared to July 2012, when it was 1.41 percent.

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One-Third of California Homeowners Locked Out of Market

The California real estate market continued to experience rising home prices and strong sales in July, but negative equity still remains a significant challenge, according to a report from PropertyRadar. Out of the 6.8 million California homeowners with a mortgage, 26 percent, or 1.8 million, were underwater as of July. Another 500,000 are barely managing to stay above water, with no more than 10 percent of equity in their home. This means about one third, or 2.3 million homeowners, are still unable to sell due to lack of equity.

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Mercantile and Firstbank to Join Forces

Mercantile Bank Corporation (Mercantile) and Firstbank Corporation (Firstbank) out of Michigan signed an agreement to combine their operations. The merge is expected to create the third largest Michigan-based bank based on market capitalization and deposit market share.

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Report: Prices Slip from June to July; Inventory Situation Improves

Median home prices dipped month-over-month in July, but still experienced a sharp rise from last year, according RE/MAX's latest housing survey covering 52 metropolitan areas. Homes in July sold for a median price of $189,950, down 2.1 percent from June, but up by 11.5 percent from July 2012. While inventory was down compared to last year and the prior month, the decreases were more conservative, which means home price gains should slow, according to RE/MAX.

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FHA Trims Waiting Period for Borrowers Who Experienced Foreclosure

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is allowing borrowers who went through a bankruptcy, foreclosure, deed-in-lieu, or short sale to reenter the market in as little as 12 months, according to a mortgage letter released Friday. In order to be eligible for the more lenient approval process, provided documents must show ""certain credit impairments"" were from loss of employment or loss of income that was beyond the borrower's control. Additionally, borrowers must demonstrate they have fully recovered from the event that caused the hardship and complete housing counseling.

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