Headlines

One of the country's biggest credit ratings agencies has put Green Tree Servicing on negative watch following a report that the company failed several compliance metrics established by the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement. Fitch Ratings announced it is changing Green Tree's servicer grades to "Rating Watch Negative," citing "ongoing concerns with Green Tree's rapid growth and portfolio integration."

According to Trulia, for the first time since July 2012, none of the 100 largest markets in May—anywhere in the United States—saw home prices rise more than 20 percent year-over-year. This is the first sign of sustainability in the housing market in years and is a welcome change from the hyper-rebounding that occurred in some markets—particularly in the West, where asking prices rose by as much as 30 percent from 2012 to 2013.

Bank of America is negotiating a settlement of at least $12 billion to end investigations into alleged misconduct related to toxic mortgages, according to media reports. Citing reports from "people familiar with the negotiations," the Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that the megabank has been working fervently over the week to come to an agreement with the Justice Department and put an end to speculation on the potential size of the settlement.

Recently, Dave Stevens, head of the Mortgage Bankers Association, revealed a shocking statistic—the GSEs denied 56 percent of African American mortgage applicants. Many, including Fannie Mae, responded that the MBA's numbers overestimated the denial rate for minorities. A new blog post from the Urban Institute commented that the MBA’s denial rate wasn't too high; rather, it was much too low.

LoanLogics launched the LoanHD AppQ Network, providing lenders with service ordering and delivery interfaces to third-party providers through the LoanHD platform. LoanHD is a single-source solution designed to provide enterprise-level loan quality management.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA)Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a monthly gauge of credit access based on metrics and underwriting criteria from more than 85 lenders, increased 1.14 percent from April to May, reading 115.1 in the latest measure.

After surpassing expectations in April, the labor market performed slightly better than anticipated in May, according to numbers released Friday by the Department of Labor. According to the government, the economy added 217,000 new jobs last month, beating out a consensus forecast of 213,000 among economists surveyed by Econoday. The gain—a retreat from April's downwardly revised estimate of 282,000 jobs added—left the national unemployment rate unchanged at 6.3 percent.

In its latest survey results, Freddie Mac recorded the average 30-year fixed rate at 4.14 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending June 5, up from last week's average 4.12 percent. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 3.91 percent and rising.

Among the 36 million people who moved between 2012 and 2013, a new study from the United States Census Bureau found that the most important reason to move was to find a new/better home or apartment. The study reported that 8 percent cited a desire for cheaper housing, while 5 percent said the most important reason for moving was to be closer to work or for an easier commute.

The First American Leading Markets Index (LMI) , a report released Thursday by the National Association of Home Builders showed that 56 of approximately 350 metro markets nationwide have returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity, as recorded before the recession. This is nine more metros than a year ago, suggesting that even though the lion's share of metros in the U.S. are still underperforming, more are coming back to stable ground.