Market Studies

With a little help from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), American consumers can overcome the single biggest obstacle to homeownership – saving for a down payment – and increase their savings to a level that will allow them to finally own a home.

While the Obama Administration is touting monthly job gains consistently averaging more than 200,000 and a labor market that they say is at its healthiest level since the turn of the century, at least one analyst says that the recently reported national unemployment rate of 5.6 percent may not be telling the complete story.

A survey conducted among economists by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on economic growth in the United States released on Friday revealed that predictions have been revised upward for the labor market – which means good news for the economy and for housing recovery.

Zillow announced Friday that it expects to close the acquisition of Trulia by February 17, following the announcement of the conclusion of a Federal Trade Commission investigation. Zillow first announced its intention to acquire Trulia in July 2014 for $3.5 billion.

Counsel's Corner is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with default servicing attorneys around the country about the most pressing issues facing the default servicing industry. This installment features David Biderman, partner with Perkins Coie in the firm's Los Angeles and San Francisco offices.

A nationwide survey conducted by Auction.com, a leading online real estate marketplace, showed a continuation in January of a trend seen in the fourth quarter of 2014 – that of investors' preference to flip houses rather than rent them out. Even as the demand for rental housing has increased in most markets, investors continue to prefer to flip houses due to a recent combination of price appreciation and decreased inventory. About 50.2 percent of investors surveyed in January said they preferred to flip the homes they purchased,

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported last week that average hourly earnings increased by 12 cents from December to January ($24.63 to $24.75), but U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said on Monday more wage growth is needed.

The share of respondents in Fannie Mae's survey who said their household income is "significantly higher" than it was a year ago climbed 4 percentage points to a survey high of 29 percent, the company reported. Looking ahead, 48 percent said they expect their finances to improve in the next year, also a survey high. Overall, 44 percent of Americans said they believe the economy is on the right track, an increase of 3 percentage points and only a few points less than those saying the economy is headed the wrong way (49 percent). That optimism spurred 66 percent of those surveyed to say they would buy a home if they had to move, a jump from 61 percent at the end of 2014.

Nationwide bankruptcy filings dropped by more than 13 percent year-over-year in January, continuing a five-year trend, according to AACER bankruptcy data reported by Epiq Systems. The total number of bankruptcies filed in the United States for January was 59,037, marking the fifth January in a row that bankruptcy filings declined year-over-year. January's filing total represented a 13.5 percent decrease from January 2014, when 68,271 bankruptcies were filed, and a decline of 42.6 percent from their highest total for any January, which was 102,835 reached in January 2010.

The unemployment rate, which is measured from a separate household survey, ticked up slightly to 5.7 percent from December's 5.6 percent, reflecting an increase in the number of Americans looking for work. After accounting for annual adjustments to population controls, BLS said the civilian labor force rose by 703,000 in January, bringing the labor force participation rate back up to a still-low 62.9 percent.