Market Studies

Less than half of the states' $2.5 billion from the national mortgage servicing settlement is being used for housing initiatives as intended, according to Enterprise Community Partners. It's been six months since a federal judge approved the agreement between the nation's five largest mortgage servicers and state and federal officials, and Enterprise says to date, states have announced housing- and foreclosure-related plans for $966 million of their settlement share; $988 million has been diverted to states' general funds or non-housing uses; and $588 million has yet to be allocated.

A recent C.A.R. survey revealed 64 percent of California Realtors expressed difficulty in closing short sales, an improvement from 77 percent in August 2011 and 70 percent in 2010. However, the more significant improvement was the drop in Realtors who described the short sale process as ""extremely difficult."" More than half of the Realtors surveyed in 2011 said the process was ""extremely difficult"" compared to about a third (34 percent) in 2012. Among the main obstacles Realtors faced, slow response time from the lender was the most highly cited.

While Barack Obama and Mitt Romney may have been ""frustratingly light on detail"" so far with regards to housing, an analysis by Capital Economics reveals the two candidates' policies may have more in common than they care to admit. In a Housing Market Update released by the company, property economist Paul Diggle writes that, based on the information Capital Economics has pieced together, ""it looks like anyone expecting either candidates' housing plan to make a dramatic difference to the course of the housing recovery will be disappointed.""

Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group expects economic growth to ""remain at a sluggish sub-2 percent rate this year."" While the outlook on the economy was uncertain, the assessment for the housing market was more stable. Despite an anticipated dip in home prices for the winter season, the research group maintains the viewpoint that prices hit bottom earlier this year. In addition to the bottoming out of prices, the GSE's research group said record low mortgage rates should encourage more consumers to enter the housing market.

According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.37 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending October 18, down from the previous week when it was 3.39 percent. The 15-year FRM also fell, averaging 2.66 percent (0.6 point) this week compared with 2.70 percent in the last survey. Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist for Freddie Mac, said the minor adjustments stem from growth in home construction.

First time claims for unemployment insurance shot up 46,000 to 388,000—the highest level since July — for the week ended October 13, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected initial claims to bounce back up to 365,000 after seasonal factors drove the number of claims down to the lowest level in 54 months.

A rather rough quarter for Bank of America resulted in a better-than-anticipated quarterly net income of $340 million, the bank reported. Citing legal expenses (totaling $1.6 billion) and debit valuation adjustments ($1.9 billion), BofA saw its quarterly revenue drop drastically year-over-year from $6.2 billion in third-quarter 2011.

With home prices down so far down from their peak and mortgage rates hovering around record lows, many analysts are saying home affordability could hardly be any higher. However, a study released by Interest.com shows homes are only truly affordable in about half of the nation’s major cities. Rising expenses and stagnant wages are preventing median-income households from being able to afford median-income homes, explained Mike Sante, managing editor for Interest.com.

Following FHFA's report on HARP refinances in August, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) released its own analysis of the data and expressed anticipation for an even greater increase in non-HARP refinance activity. KBW explained FHFA data on HARP volume showed a 2.6 percent month-over-month increase in August, while non-HARP GSE refinance activity was up 23.6 percent.

The median sales price for homes sold in September continued to move higher yearly and monthly while sales were stalled from the previous month, according to a housing report from RE/MAX, which tracks MLS data in 52 metropolitan areas. The median sales price in September was $164,989, a slight 0.7 percent increase from August and a 7.8 percent improvement from September 2011. Home sales experienced a typical seasonal decline and dropped 17.5 percent from August.