News

The recovery should pick up the pace as it heads into the year's second half, according to Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group. Based on data for Q1 and predicted numbers for Q2, Fannie Mae expects gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at an average 1.8 percent for the first half of the year. GDP growth is then expected to push past 2.5 percent in 2014, ""boosted largely by tailwinds from the strengthening housing market,"" said Doug Duncan, chief economist for Fannie Mae.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) labeled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as critical concerns in the composite rating category for 2012. The assessment, which was part of the agency's fifth annual Report to Congress, was unchanged from the rating assigned in 2011. In the earnings category, the GSEs were rated as ""significant concerns,"" an upgrade from the ""critical concerns"" rating in 2011.

While the number of for-sale listings nationwide remains down from last year, June saw a promising lift compared to the start of this year, Zillow revealed in a new report. The overall number of listings on Zillow was down 12.2 percent year-over-year at the start of June, an improvement from the 17.5 percent shortfall recorded in January--in other words, Zillow explained, the inventory of for-sale homes has improved 5.3 percentage points year-to-date. Overall, annual inventory levels improved in June compared to January in 70 metros.

Mortgage rates continued to climb this week, but the near-term future is going to depend on how the Federal Reserve reacts. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.98 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending June 13, up from 3.91 percent last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.71 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.10 percent (0.7 point), up from 3.03 percent in the last survey.

As long as short sales remain a common strategy to handle distressed properties, related fraudulent activity should also be expected. To help lenders, servicers, and investors develop tactics to combat the more common occurrence of short sale fraud, DataQuick outlined five solutions as starting points. The first is to understand activity levels to pinpoint markets with the greatest potential for fraud. Over the past two years, DataQuick identified 205,177 short sales in 14 of the largest counties.

Driven by stronger auto sales but held back by falling gasoline sales, total retail sales increased 0.6 percent in May, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Economists had expected sales to increase 0.5 percent. In April, retail sales rose 0.1 percent.

After posting a 75-month low in April, foreclosure filings increased 2 percent in May, according to RealtyTrac. The rise was primarily driven by an 11 percent increase in REOs over the month. However, REOs demonstrated a 29 percent decline year-over-year in May, while foreclosure filings fell 28 percent over the same time period. ""Foreclosure activity continued to bounce back in some markets where it may have appeared the foreclosure problem had been knocked out by an aggressive combination of foreclosure prevention efforts over the past two years,"" said Daren Blomquist, VP at RealtyTrac.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell to 334,000, for week ended June 8, the lowest level in a month dropping 12,000 after increasing 13,000 one week earlier the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected initial claims to increase to 350,000 from the prior week.

Two law firms have joined to file a class action lawsuit against the United States government, alleging the government violated the Fifth Amendment when it took Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship in 2008. Spector Roseman Kodroff & Willis, P.C., based in Philadelphia, and Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, based in Seattle, filed the class action suit on behalf of shareholders this week.

After reviewing more than 650,000 online mortgage applications sent to more than 1,100 lenders last year, Mortgage Marvel found only 15 percent of applications were submitted on weekends. A majority of those submitted on weekdays--60 percent--were submitted between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., prompting Mortgage Marvel to assume many applicants are applying while at work.