Government

The results of the Census Bureau's and HUD's American Housing Survey are now available for the first time ever via the Census' American FactFinder data access tool, the agencies announced Thursday. The survey covers a wide range of topics, including housing problems, householder's satisfaction with home and neighborhood, purchase price and type of mortgage, and socio-economic characteristics of the householder. Statistics are provided on the national level for apartments, single-family homes, manufactured housing, new construction, and vacant housing units.

In Q3 2012, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed about 134,200 foreclosure prevention actions, according to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Of that total, 62,500 foreclosure prevention actions were through loan modifications, and 38,000 were from short sales and deeds-in-lieu. Overall, since the start of their conservatorship in September 2008, the GSEs have completed 2.5 million foreclosure prevention actions.

After going into free-fall for much of 2012, fixed mortgage rates started off 2013 with very slight declines, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average 30-year fixed rate was 3.34 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending January 3, down from 3.35 percent in the last week of 2012. The average 30-year fixed rate was 3.91 percent at the beginning of last year. The 15-year fixed average also fell, sliding to 2.64 percent (0.7 point) from 2.65 percent previously. A year ago at this time, the 15-year fixed rate averaged 3.23 percent.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance rose 10,000 to 372,000 for the week ending December 29, the third-lowest level of the year, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to increase to 363,000.

The New York Times recently reported a $10 billion settlement is in the works between federal regulators and 14 banks. In April 2011, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Reserve, and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) announced enforcement actions against the 14 banks after investigations led to allegations of abusive foreclosure practices.

Struggling homeowners who are considering a short sale or modification will be eligible for tax relief in 2013. The ""fiscal cliff bill"" passed by Congress on January 1 included a provision to exclude borrowers from paying taxes on debt forgiven through a short sale, foreclosure, or loan modification. Known as the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, the act was scheduled to expire December 31, 2012, but received an extension for another year.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston recently conducted a study to clarify the effect of mortgage payment size on likelihood of default, and the researchers concluded ""interest rate changes dramatically affect repayment behavior."" Researchers compared homeowner payment behavior both before and after payment reductions and compared them to similar loans that did not receive simultaneous reductions. According to the findings, a payment reduction of about 2 percentage points results in a 50 percent decline in default probability.

Congress approved the appointment of Carol Galante as assistant secretary for housing and commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The appointment was finalized Sunday with 69-24 vote from the Senate. Galante has served as the acting assistant secretary and FHA commissioner since July 2011.

Negotiators in Washington face a dismal weekend leading up to -- and perhaps including -- New Year's Eve, made worse because they're trying to solve the wrong problem. They're wrangling over how to avoid the fiscal cliff when a series of laws aimed at or contributing to the nation's deficit are set to expire, complicated by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's pronouncement the nation is approaching its debt ceiling.

New home sales jumped 4.4 percent in November to 377,000, the highest level since April 2010, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected the report to show a sales pace of 375,000.