Daily Dose

The falling inventory has many industry professionals worried, especially as demand picks up. Data from Redfin shows that homes in April sold the fastest since 2010, and sold 10 days faster than a year previously. Many homes, one in four, sold above their list price.

Out-of-sync technologies are holding businesses back, according to a recent report. Additionally, make it hard to serve the millennial homebuyer, who expects a more seamless, digitized solution when purchasing a home. This is largely because tech solutions in today’s post-crisis, highly-regulated industry are product-specific, which creates a “complex ecosystem made up of siloed disparate systems.”

Financial Freedom, a division of OneWest Bank agreed to a settlement of over $89 million on Tuesday, resolving allegations from the Department of Justice that the accusing the company of violating the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 in connection with its participation in a federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages or ‘reverse mortgage’ program.

The drop in HARP refinance volume follows a spike in Q3 and Q4 2016. The FHFA reports that borrowers completed 13,425 refinances through the Home Affordability Refinance Program (HARP) in Q1 2017, bringing the total amount of HARP refinances to 3,461,096. Of all refinances that quarter, HARP represented 3 percent.

The default rate has been steady and falling as home prices continue to rise in most parts of the country and sales of both new and existing homes increase. The default rate for both first and second mortgages fell in April. Additionally, most cities saw declining default rats, with the exception of New York.

Fannie Mae predicts a steady growth in the economy, driven mainly by consumer spending in Q2. The GSE’s projections for a more robust Q2 are following a familiar path. This year looks to be the fourth one in a row in which Q2 rebounded after a droopy Q1.

A recent survey shows improved performances for mortgage performance for 1-4 family properties. Foreclosures in process fell as well. But new foreclosure starts picked up for the first time since 2014

Builder confidence in the housing market rises as demand for newly-built, single-family homes rises. Based on a monthly survey from the NAHB, the HMI measures the health of the housing market on a point system from 0 to 100 based on three factors. The survey asks participants to rate market conditions for the sale of new, single-family homes at present, the market conditions for the sale of new, single-family homes in the next six months, and the traffic of prospective buyers of new homes.

Nationstar Holdings reported declining income in Q1. The market overall saw declines in mortgage revenue with PNC Financial Services Group, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase all reporting reductions in mortgage revenue in the quarter, but what drove Nationstar in Q1 was its strong servicing segment.

As the Federal Reserve begins to normalize their balance sheet, speculators believe that the final product may be up to three times larger than it was before the financial crisis, if not bigger. The balance sheet refers to the portfolio of securities, such as various types of Treasury debt and mortgage-backed securities (MBS), that it has purchased. Rising interest rates are sure to drive up rates in the housing market, and the Fed’s decision to pullback from mortgage-backed securities will only add to the rising rates.