News

Consumers' median earnings growth expectations were 2.5 percent for the year ahead in December, the New York Fed revealed. While that marks a step back from November's reading of 2.7 percent, it's still the second-highest reading since the start of that measure in July 2013.

Loan modifications facilitated through the government's Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP) have historically re-defaulted at a lower rate than proprietary loan modifications, but HAMP mods facilitated in 2014 began re-defaulting at a higher rate than those modified in the two previous years, according to Black Knight Financial Services' November 2014 Mortgage Monitor released on Monday.

Florida-based Aces Risk Management (ARMCO), a provider of Web-based audit technology for the financial services industry, has tapped mortgage quality control expert Phil McCall to serve as COO.

In a report released Monday morning, Fitch outlined five big events—all of which have taken place in the past few months—that, taken together, "could have a relatively meaningful impact on home buyer psychology, pent-up demand and housing trends in 2015 and beyond," the company says.

Rogers Townsend & Thomas, a banking, default services, insurance, real estate, construction, corporate, and title services sectors law firm, has announced that default services attorneys Robert P. Davis and Michael L. Spicer have been elected Shareholders in the firm.

Jordan Capital Finance (JCF), a private lender backed by Garrison Investment Group, has announced that real estate and finance industry veteran Noah Martin has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Business Development.

One of the main points in President Barack Obama's speech about housing in Phoenix on Thursday was how far the housing industry has come since the bust of 2008 and particularly since he took office in January 2009. The president admitted that the housing market has not come all the way back yet and there is still work to be done. But did he overestimate just how far the housing market has come and the role his administration's policies have played in the recovery? It's possible, according to one analyst.

U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-California), a senior member of the House Finances Services Committee, was assigned to the Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Entities Subcommittee and the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee by HFS Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), according to an announcement from Royce's website on Friday.

Preliminary unaudited results indicate that the Federal Home Loan Banks of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board paid a record amount of approximately $98.7 billion out of their 2014 estimated net income of $101.5 billion to the U.S. Department of Treasury, according to an announcement from the Fed on Friday.

The U.S. labor market reported a strong gain of 252,000 jobs on the payrolls for December in data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday. December's job gain was close to 2014's average monthly increase and 2014 was the best year of job growth in the U.S. since 1999. According to Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan, the underlying data may not be so encouraging for the housing market, however.