News

According to the UCLA Anderson Forecast, the one-two punch of harsh winter weather in the East and a nagging drought in the West (namely California) stalled industries from real estate to factory production, putting a tight chokehold on the national economy.

Consumer sentiment retreated last month to an index reading of 80.0, down 2 percent from February’s 81.6 but an improvement on last year’s 78.6, according to a report released by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center.

Construction spending rose for the month of February, realizing a .1 percent increase after a downward revision to January’s figures. This analysis was presented by the Wells Fargo Economics Group, who found monthly non-residential construction spending rose .6 percent, while residential construction fell .7 percent month-over-month.

In a press release issued Wednesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the FHFA reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have completed 3.1 million foreclosure prevention actions since the two companies came under the government’s conservatorship in 2008.

The monthly volume summary issued by Fannie Mae reported further contraction in its book of business for the second time this year and the third in as many months. The book’s total value was approximately $3.15 trillion.

Charged by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to integrate loan disclosures stemming from the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has integrated four forms into two in order to create more streamlined and easier to understand mortgage disclosure paperwork.

According to new data offered by the CFPB, complaint volume last year totaled 163,700, an 80 percent increase from the 91,000 recorded complaints in 2012. Including this year, the bureau has received more than 310,000 complaints to date. The leap in volume underscores the challenges that still remain despite the progress made by financial industries in the last few years.

CoreLogic released its Home Price Index (HPI) for February, which found that home prices increased by 12.2 percent from the previous year. The CoreLogic figure includes home prices of distressed sales, and represents 24 months of consecutive year-over-year increases in home prices nationally.

A new report issued by the Warren Group found the number of foreclosure petitions dropped by 48.7 percent in Massachusetts for the month of February. The monthly drop represented 18 consecutive months that petitions have decreased on a year-over-year basis in the Bay State.

Informative Research, a mortgage information services provider, announced recently the appointment of Patrick Kelly to VP of Business Development and Colleen Knapp to Director of Business Development.