News

George Lopez has joined the RE/MAX Associates of Dallas as the newest member of its sales team. Lopez has the eNetworking Specialist Designation.

Citigroup reported Monday profits of $3.9 billion in Q1, just barely edging out last year’s income of $3.8 billion. Gains were more impressive when put next to Q4’s earnings, which disappointed at $2.5 billion. The gain came despite a year-over-year drop in total revenues, which were down 1 percent to $20.1 billion as a result of declines in fixed income markets revenues and lower refinancing activity.

George Demopulos, president and chief valuation officer for Lincoln Appraisal & Settlement Services (LASS) has accepted a two-year term on a subcommittee for the Appraisal Subcommittee. Demopulos will serve as a representative member on the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) Advisory Committee for Development of Regulations.

HOPE NOW, a private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers, and non-profit counselors, released its February 2014 loan modification data. The group reported that an estimated 42,000 homeowners received permanent modifications in the month, including modifications from proprietary programs and the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced that four men—Sean Cutting, Brian Melland, Bijan Madjlessi, David Lonich—have been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, false statements to a bank, false bank entries, and obstruction of justice.

Delinquency rates on recently issued U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) remain nearly zero after the first post-crisis transaction was completed, according to a new report issued by Fitch Ratings.

Two quarterly earnings reports revealed very different results for two major players in the mortgage industry. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase both felt the sting of a shrinking mortgage market, but one bank revealed substantial growth. Wells Fargo reported a record net income of $5.9 billion for the first quarter, an increase of 14 percent from the year-ago quarter and 5 percent from Q4 2013.

After a long, dreary winter, the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) pointed towards signs of renewed optimism in the 13-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Seller activity rose 5.5 percent to roughly 6,500 newly listed homes in March. Although inventory remains near a 10-year low, the group believes consumers should have more options this year compared to recent years.

As the housing market inches further toward recovery, a curious dichotomy has arisen between urban and suburban growth. Asking prices for homes in densely populated (i.e., high-rise-rich) and urban settings are still rising as the spring buying market catches its stride. It’s the suburbs, however, where population is growing most.

A release issued Thursday by the Federal Deposit Insurance (FDIC) urged financial institutions to "actively utilize available resources to identify and help mitigate potential cyber-related risks." The timing of the release is particularly germane, considering the recently discovered Heartbleed bug which affects almost two-thirds of the web, as well as recent cyber-attacks on industry giant Ellie Mae.