Daily Dose

The National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) recently issued a critique of an audit performed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of the Inspector General (FHFAOIG). NAMFS doesn't believe that the report properly assessed the over 15 million inspections done each year in the United States.

The Wells Fargo Economics Group released a recent report outlining consumer confidence in the Sunshine State. The data from April suggests consumer sentiment slipped in Florida one point to 79 for the month, largely due to increased concerns about current economic conditions.

News of worse-than-expected first-quarter economic growth brought fixed mortgage rates down this week, according to market reports. In its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey,Freddie Mac recorded the average 30-year fixed rate at 4.29 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending May 1, down from 4.33 percent. Last year, the 30-year rate was down at 3.35 percent.

According to the latest report from the Labor Department, the rate of unemployment last month fell to 6.3 percent, down nearly half a percentage point after a flat March. At an estimated 9.8 million, the number of unemployed people was down by 733,000. Employers across the country added 288,000 jobs to their payrolls in April, bringing the unemployment rate down to a new post-crash low.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), serving as the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced a settlement for $110 million with First Horizon National Corporation. The settlement resolves alleged violations of securities laws in connection with private-label mortgage-backed securities (PLS) purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2005-2007.

Freddie Mac announced it has opened up its "full menu" of relief policies for homeowners whose homes were damaged or destroyed by late April storms. Freddie Mac’s disaster relief policies extend to jurisdictions declared by President Obama to be Major Disaster Areas and where Individual Assistance Programs are being made available, which as of May 1 included parts of Arkansas and Mississippi.

Zillow's break-even horizon analysis came to an interesting conclusion: in half of U.S. metros, buying a home is a better financial decision than renting for buyers intending to stay in their home at least two years. The company’s analysis includes all costs associated with buying versus renting, including upfront payments, closing costs, anticipated monthly rent and mortgage payments.

The American Enterprise Institute's (AEI) International Center on Housing Risk released this week its latest National Mortgage Risk Index (NMRI), a measure of likely loan default rates in the event of another economic crisis. For its March data, the group calculated that under stress, 11.5 percent of recent home purchase mortgages would default, just down from 11.6 percent in February.

In its quarterly report to congress Wednesday, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) outlined its role as law enforcer for TARP recipients and as adviser to the Treasury. SIGTARP highlighted and reiterated a few of its previous recommendations, including increasing incentives for homeowners in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

RealtyTrac released its U.S. Home Flipping Report for Q1 2014, reporting that 3.7 percent of all U.S. single-family home sales were flips. Home flipping over all is down, dropping 4.1 percent from the fourth quarter in 2013, as well as declining 6.5 percent from the previous year’s first quarter.