News

The 2014 Five Star Conference and Expo will feature an important industry event hosted by Brian Montgomery, former FHA commissioner and current chairman of the Collingwood Group, a Washington, D.C. based mortgage lending business advisory firm. “We are fortunate to have such a recognized national figure in housing, lead this important and necessary discussion on the direction of the mortgage servicing industry,” said Ed Delgado, president and CEO of the Five Star Institute.

The nationwide annual rate of the sale of residential properties, which include single family homes, condominiums, and town homes, declined by 3 percent month-over-month and 12 percent year-over-year in July, according to RealtyTrac's July 2014 U.S Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report released on August 29

Minimal employment growth and weak demographics in Pennsylvania have economists convinced that the state's housing market is not quite on the road to recovery, according to a special commentary released by Wells Fargo Economics Group on August 26.

Though the economy in Colorado is among the best of any state in the country, the housing market recovery in the state has been slow, according to a special commentary released by Wells Fargo Economics Group. The commentary indicates that there is cause to believe the outlook for the housing market in Colorado is bright, however.

Freddie Mac's single-family refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume was $9.2 billion in July, representing about 40 percent of total new single-family mortgage portfolio activity. Relief refinance mortgages accounted for 20 percent of the company's single-family refinance volume based on unpaid principal balance.

Foreclosure activity was down all over the nation in July, particularly in the area of foreclosure inventory – homes that are in any stage of the foreclosure process – where there was a 34.4 percent drop from July 2013, according to CoreLogic's July 2014 National Foreclosure Report released on August 28.

The nation's leading online real estate marketplace, Auction.com, has announced that Mindy Heppberger has been named the company's new executive vice president and chief legal officer.

Nearly 43 percent of homeowners between 35 and 49 are underwater on their mortgages. In contrast, only 15 percent of millennial homeowners (those between 20 and 34 years old) and 31 percent of baby boomers (50 to 64 years old) are underwater.

August's increase was driven by an increase in Conference Board's measure of current economic sentiment, which grew to 94.6 from 87.9 in July. Most of that was spurred by more promising reports over the spring and summer as business and labor market indicators improved.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced on August 25 the passing of two new rules – one that prohibits lenders from charging interest on FHA-insured mortgages that are paid in full and one that requires lenders to give borrowers earlier access to information regarding FHA-insured ARMs.