Headlines

Pro Teck Valuation Servicers released their April Home Value Forecast (HFV), looking specifically at two metros where there is a mix of hot and cold real estate markets. The company's April edition focuses on Phoenix, Arizona and Cleveland, Ohio.

LRES, a national provider of residential and commercial valuations and asset management for the mortgage, banking, credit union and real estate industries, announced Selene Nunez has been named VP of valuations. Nunez is a 14-year veteran at LRES.

According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year average fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) eased to 4.20 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending May 15, a drop of just 1 basis point from the last survey. It was the third straight week of declines, Freddie Mac reported, bring the 30-year fixed average to a six-month low.

Despite some recent kickback from Senate Democrats, the Johnson-Crapo reform bill that plans to phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac passed the Senate Banking Committee by a bipartisan vote of 13-9. The legislation is an agreement between Chairman Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) "designed to stabilize the housing finance market and strengthen the American economy," the committee said in a press release.

For the majority of homes, buying is cheaper than renting. But as home prices rise faster than incomes and mortgage rates slowly head upwards, the question of national affordability becomes ever more germane. Compared to the longer-term past, homeownership still looks relatively affordable as home prices remain undervalued and mortgage rates remain near historic lows. However, affordability for the middle class in some areas of the nation is becoming problematic.

More than two years after the announcement of an historic settlement between 49 state attorneys general and some of the country's largest servicers, most are living up to compliance standards, a new report shows. According to examination results released by the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight, five of the six banks met or exceeded expectations across 29 different compliance metrics in the third and fourth quarters of 2013.

Metrostudy released a study of the first quarter of 2014 for the Houston housing market, which found that housing continued to surge in Q1, with prices rising for both new and resale homes. New home construction was started on roughly 7,100 homes, representing the fastest pace since the third quarter of last year.

Collateral Analytics, a provider of comprehensive automated valuation solutions and real estate analytic products for the financial services and real estate industry, recently announced that it has joined Real Estate Data Protection Legal Association (REDPLAN).

RealtyTrac's latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for April 2014, revealed foreclosure filings were down 1 percent from March, totaling approximately 115,000. April's figure reflects a year-over-year decrease of 20 percent.

The New York Fed recorded an increase of $129 billion in national outstanding household debt in the first three months of the year, bringing the total debt level up to $11.65 trillion. It was the third straight quarterly gain. Leading the increase was a rise in mortgage debt, which was up by $116 billion from the end of 2013, according to the bank.