News

Continuing the drop in first time claims for unemployment insurance, initial filings fell 5,000 for the week ended September 21 to 305,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected the number of claims to jump up to 330,000, from the 309,000 originally reported for the week ended September 14.

July property data from Homes.com shows that property values in nearly one-quarter of the top 100 U.S. markets have fully recovered. According to the site’s latest report, 22 of the top 100 markets in the United States reported price increases of more than 100 percent from their respective troughs, up from 19 the month prior.

Household net worth improved $1.3 trillion in the second quarter -- half as fast as the first -- as real estate values grew $626.7 billion, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday in its quarterly Flow of Funds report. But, with a drop in mortgage debt from $9.39 trillion in the first quarter to $9.34 trillion in the second, homeowner equity grew to 49.8 percent.

Builders lowered prices and buyers responded in August, pushing new home sales up 7.9 percent to 421,000, reversing almost half of July’s 64,000 drop in sales, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected June sales to rise to 425,000 from July’s originally reported 394,000.

Consumer confidence dipped in September as Americans expressed doubt over the current direction of economic conditions. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, which picked up to 81.8 in August following a drop the month prior, fell to 79.

Home prices rose in July by less than two percent for the first time since March but still reached their highest level since August 2008, according to the Case Shiller Home Price Indexes released Tuesday. The 20-city index was up 1.8 percent in July 12.4 percent in the last year — while the companion 10-city index was up 1.9 percent.

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With home prices continuing to rise at accelerated rates, John Burns Real Estate Consulting is warning clients in certain areas--particularly in California and Florida--to be mindful of the artificial price boosts home flippers can bring to the market. In a recent report, one of the firm's analysts said the popularity of home flipping in the media is fueling exaggerated expectations of returns from amateur investors.

Mortgage Returns, a St. Louis-based provider of marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for the mortgage industry, announced the launch of its Business Analysis Report, an in-depth report offering information on production statistics, marketing return on investment (ROI), customer retention, and loan officer performance.

What's up with the Fed? The venerable, usually media-shy central bank came in for more than its share of attention in the past week and has no one to blame but itself. It started with the withdrawal of Larry Summers as a candidate to replace Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke who, by the way, has not said he's leaving. Then came the conclusion of a two-day, closed-door policy meeting that defied all market expectations.