News

According to the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, released Monday, 14.3 percent of bank respondents reported tightening their credit standards on prime residential mortgages “somewhat,” just slightly higher than the 12.9 percent that eased standards somewhat. The vast majority—72.9 percent—said standards “remained basically unchanged.”

In a nationwide analysis of 351 metros, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found 300 have seen year-over-year economic gains. According to the group's Leading Markets Index (LMI), 59 metros have fully returned or even exceeded their last normal levels of both economic and housing activity.

Mortgage document preparation vendor International Document Services (IDS) announced more than half of all document packages processed by the company in 2013 were signed electronically.

In a survey of more than 2,000 adults, Trulia found an estimated 41 percent “would strongly or somewhat prefer” to buy a new single-family home over an existing one, assuming the prices were equal. Just more than one in five respondents—21 percent—said they would prefer an existing home, while 38 percent expressed no preference.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it has reached an agreement with the owners/managers of a Denver-area apartment complex, resolving complaints of discrimination. The apartment complex, The Orchards at Cherry Creek Apartments in Centennial, was charged with discrimination after refusing to allow children to play outside.

Despite a lackluster Spring that went against analyst's projections, CoreLogic's Home Price Index reported that home prices, including distressed and non-distressed sales, still rose from February to March by 1.4 percent. Without distressed sales, the HPI still reflected positive gains for the month, up 0.9 percent month-over-month.

Clear Capital recently released its Home Data Index Market Report, which found the best deals in the housing market now reside in the middle-tier of available homes. The group found that following more than two years of recovery, low-tier homes are no longer the best value for homebuyers.

After years of too-loose and then too-tight credit access, average FICO scores are now slowly floating down, and the market looks a little more open for low-score borrowers. But do these steady declines really indicate a loosening in standards among lenders? “Afraid not,” say researchers at the Urban Institute’s (UI) Housing Finance Policy Center.

According to a new report by the Wells Fargo Economics Group, personal income was strong in March, jumping .5 percent. February's growth received an upward revision to .4 percent. Personal consumption expenditures surpassed all expectations, posting a .9 percent increase.

Fannie Mae's book of business declined for the first three months of this year, ending the first quarter with a monthly compound annualized rate of -1.8 percent. Over the first quarter, the GSE's book of business declined at a compound annualized rate of 2.2 percent.