News

Both large institutional and smaller ""mom and pop"" investors have been very active purchasing homes at a steep discount, primarily in housing-bust markets. Industry reports attribute anywhere from 33 to 49 percent of September's home purchases to investors. Whether one-third or nearly one-half of the market, investors are the key force driving home prices, which could signal volatility in coming quarters.

Home prices are well above their year-ago levels, as evidenced by the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. In fact, according to the report, the annual gain recorded in August was the fastest rate of growth since February 2006--up 12.8 percent from August last year. The monthly pace of appreciation, however, continues to slow. With prices rising just 1.3 percent from July to August, S&P says we may be approaching a plateau.

Over the past year, home prices have risen 16 percent and mortgage rates have climbed from 3.7 percent to 4.43 percent, all while incomes have risen by just 3 percent, according to Bankrate's Interest.com website. These diverging trends have led to a decline in affordability across the nation. In all of the nation's 25 largest metros, it's less likely buyers can afford a home this year compared to last year.

September's pending home sales point to a slow quarter during the final three months of the year. The National Association of Realtors says the numbers show buyers are struggling with declining levels of housing affordability. The trade group's pending sales index is a forward-looking indicator that's based on contract signings, not closings, and it has now fallen for four straight months.

Since 2011, investors have purchased more than 950,000 homes; and with 370,000 purchases so far this year, they have already surpassed the number of purchases they made in either of the past two years, according to a new report from RealtyTrac. In total, investors have spent $1 trillion acquiring single-family residences since 2011.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) and KMC Information Systems (KMCIS) announced Friday that the two firms have teamed up to create an end-to-end foreclosure processing solution for loan servicers. The companies plan to integrate certain LPS technologies with KMCIS' CaseAware platform for attorneys and trustees to improve the efficiency and transparency of foreclosure processing.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) started off its 100th Annual Convention Sunday with the election and swearing-in of its board of directors for the 2014 membership year.

According to RE/MAX's National Housing Report for September, closed transactions fell 18.5 percent month-over-month, in line with the typical trend as summer passes into autumn. Year-over-year, however sales increased 10.7 percent, making September the 27th consecutive month in which sales rose on an annual basis. The company also reported a slowdown in the rate of inventory decline.

JPMorgan Chase reached agreements to resolve its mortgage-backed securities litigation with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and rep and warranty repurchase claims from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Altogether, the bank has agreed to pay $5.1 billion to the GSEs.

ValuTrac Software, a software solutions provider to the appraisal management and mortgage lending industry, announced the hiring of David Yavorsky as the company's new chief information officer (CIO). Yavorsky comes to ValuTrac from a 13-year career at First American, where he held several senior level management positions.