Market Studies

As the housing market improves, so has the income for Realtors, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Median gross income for Realtors increased 25 percent to $43,500 in 2012, up from $34,900 in 2011, the association reported. Most NAR members (56 percent) are licensed as sales agents, while 27 percent are brokers. The findings are from the 2013 National Association of Realtors Member Profile, which surveyed 58,068 NAR members.

New York may be dealing with a heavy foreclosure burden, but the state is still bound for a strong economic recovery, according to a report released by HUD and Treasury. While foreclosures are improving across the country, New York has remained a concern due to its long foreclosure timelines and backlog of distressed inventory. Despite the obstacle, a report from the Obama administration highlighted factors that show how the market has proven itself in other ways. For one, the New York metropolitan area is the largest job market in the nation, and the area has shown economic resilience through the Great Recession.

Massachusetts experienced a steep 82 percent year-over-year drop in foreclosure starts in March, according to a report from The Warren Group.

Driven by stronger auto sales but held back by falling gasoline prices, total retail sales increased an unexpected 0.1 percent in April Census Bureau reported Monday. Economists had expected sales to fall 0.3 percent. In March, retail sales fell a revised 0.

""Fiscal policy,"" simply put, is the means by which a government adjusts its levels of spending in order to monitor and influence a nation's economy. At the heart of the spending/growth disparity is a philosophical debate over the role of government: those who believe government should be run like a business and avoid debt and those who see the role of government as spending counter-cyclically, that is increasing spending when the nation's economy is challenged to avoid further struggles. direct a country's economic goals.

While the likelihood of re-defaulting on a HAMP modification is smaller compared to private sector modifications, borrowers can become disqualified from the program if they miss three consecutive payments. According to the most recent Making Home Affordable Program report for March released by Treasury, the key to strengthening the chances a borrower won't become disqualified is to provide a significant payment reduction. ""Payment reduction is strongly correlated with permanent modification sustainability,"" the report concluded.

Most mortgage fraud takes place in the short sale and REO space, according to Rob Hagberg, associate director of fraud investigations at Freddie Mac. ""This area is ripe with fraud,"" he said during a webinar hosted by CoreLogic. While servicers and others in the industry have adapted to some fraud schemes and put measures in place to detect and prevent fraud, schemes continue to evolve as fraudsters find new ways to manipulate sales. Both short sale and REO fraud often require fraudsters to convince servicers a home is worth less than it actually is.

Metro areas continued to post price gains in the first quarter, rising alongside national median price increases, the National Association of Realtors reported. Out of 150 metro areas the NAR tracks, 133 displayed price growth in the first quarter of this year compared to the same quarter a year ago. The association also provided first quarter data on national median prices and found the median price for an existing single-family home rose 9.3 percent year-over-year.

The national mortgage delinquency rate ticked up to 7.25 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis in the first quarter compared to 7.09 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported in its delinquency survey. While the rate increased 16 basis points from the previous quarter, it's still 15 basis points lower compared to the rate a year ago the same quarter. The share of loans that began the foreclosure process in Q1 remained at its record low level of 0.70 percent, which is the lowest it's been since Q2 2007.

According to Zillow, homebuyers participating in its Mortgage Marketplace Survey answered basic questions on mortgage information incorrectly nearly one-third (32.5 percent) of the time. For example, 34 percent of first-time homebuyers are not aware that they might be able to get a home loan with a down payment of less than 5 percent. Prospective buyers aren't the only group who demonstrated a lack of basic mortgage knowledge. About one in five homeowners said they did not believe underwater borrowers could refinance.