Market Studies

Citing ""strong underlying performance across virtually all [its] businesses,"" JPMorgan Chase reported record profits for its third straight year. According to its quarterly filing, JPMorgan took in $5.7 billion in net income during 2012's final quarter, up 53 percent from the same quarter in 2011. For all of 2012, the bank reported a record $21.3 billion. Much of that profit came on the bank of JPMorgan's strengthened mortgage business.

RE/MAX co-founder and chairman Dave Liniger says he expects the national housing market's rebound in 2012 to not only continue into 2013, but he also thinks the year could be the best the industry has seen in a very long time. Liniger also offered his top 10 predictions for the year in a video presentation. According to the RE/MAX research team, Liniger's predictions for 2012 were 85 percent accurate.

Builder confidence stalled in January as the Housing Market Index (HMI) stood at 47, remaining at its highest level since April 2006, the National Association of Home Builders reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the index to tick up to 48.

Improving news on housing and employment has given a lift to consumer confidence, despite ""fiscal cliff drama,"" according Freddie Mac's U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for January. The report noted the 155,000 jobs that were added in December and the overall gain of 1.86 million jobs for all of 2012. Freddie Mac expects the U.S. economy to see another two million news jobs in 2013.

In a report released Monday, ForeclosureRadar boldly asserts that foreclosures are helping mend the market in California, and the government--backed by the banking industry--has created foreclosure delays to help bank balance sheets. ForeclosureRadar argues ""the real problem continues to be the negative equity created during a massive and unsustainable credit bubble,"" not foreclosures, which are helping homeowners ""escape a prison of debt.""

Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC will offer a loan program that allows homebuyers to finance property repairs before moving in. Carrington announced FHA's Streamlined 203k loan program will be available through the company's retail and wholesale businesses.

Total retail sales rose 0.5 percent from November to December, the Department of Commerce reported Tuesday. The increase was twice the rate economists forecast.

Redfin, a Seattle-based real estate broker driven by technology, is finding some of the nation's top emerging markets in what the broker says are unlikely places. Redfin studied 48 emerging neighborhoods located within 16 major metro areas across the country to determine which neighborhoods showed the most promise in terms of price growth this year. Seven of the top 10 neighborhoods are located in California. The top neighborhood is Highland Park, located in Los Angeles.

REO sales no longer play the dominant role they once did in real estate transactions. The recent decline in REO sales, along with the decrease in inventory, is helping the market see an improvement in prices, according to a report from Corelogic. REO sales showed a 35 percent year-over-year decline in October 2012 and a 60 percent decrease from the April 2009 peak, CoreLogic revealed. Meanwhile, overall home sales increased 6 percent in 2012 to 4.2 million, with non-distressed sales seeing an 11 percent increase, CoreLogic reported.

Foreclosure inventory in November fell as requirements from the national mortgage settlement ""influence the pace of first-time foreclosure starts,"" Lender Processing Services (LPS) stated in a recent report. Foreclosure inventory shrunk to 3.51 percent in November, a near 10 percent decline from September 2012. LPS explained the settlement requires the servicers to provide a 14 day notice before referring borrowers to foreclosure, and the letters were sent starting in September. However, as servicers get up to speed on settlement requirements, LPS says it expects foreclosure starts to rebound in the coming months.