News

According to Interthinx's yearly Mortgage Fraud Risk Report--based on analysis of loan applications processed throughout 2012 by Interthinx's FraudGUARD system--the 2012 Annual Mortgage Fraud Index was 150, a 3.4 percent rise from 2011's index reading of 145. While the East housed more risky states last year, the West was home to two of the riskiest--Nevada and Arizona, which ranked first and third in terms of risk, respectively.

Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaging 3.40 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending April 25, down slightly from 3.41 percent last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed averaged 3.88 percent. Bankrate.com also reported its sixth straight week of declines. According to the site's weekly national survey, the benchmark 30-year fixed rate retreated to a four-month low of 3.57 percent

Clarifire, a Florida-based provider of workflow automation technology, announced the launch of its next-generation website, eClarifire.com.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance dropped for only the second time in the last six weeks, falling 16,000 to 339,000 for the week ending April 20, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The report offered final numbers for the week ending April 13, the same week used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for its monthly Employment Situation report to be released May 3.

The broadening housing recovery has firmed up home prices around the country, with the potential to restore many underwater mortgages to a position of positive equity, according to Fannie Mae's economic and strategic research group. Citing data from CoreLogic, the GSE notes that 1.7 million properties moved from negative to positive equity last year. Provided the home price gains seen so far this year continue, Fannie's economic analysts anticipate another 1.8 million properties will rise out of their underwater positions by the end of 2013.

Even the usually ""unmoved"" appraiser community is starting to show confidence in today's housing climate, according to the results of a recently conducted industry survey released Wednesday. The data show nearly 55 percent of appraisers polled have ""mildly or moderately strong"" confidence in the housing market, while 25 percent were neutral. Experts say the group is a ""good gauge"" of housing conditions because they tend to be realistic, focused on their local markets, and unswayed by news stories or national numbers.

Over the past couple years, rentals of single-family homes have served as a growing segment of the housing market. However, lately limited supply and rising home prices are leading to rising rents, thus slowing growth in this market, according to a report from CoreLogic. Having been on the decline since 2009, single-family rental properties now have about a 2.9-month supply available on the market. For comparison, anything below six months supply in the purchase market is considered low. The result of tight supply, naturally, is rising prices.

Starting July 1, large numbers of non-paying borrowers will have the opportunity to modify existing mortgages through a more streamlined process. This sounds like a good way to reduce foreclosures and prop up home prices, but as we will shortly see the proposed program is oddly risky and likely to encourage additional defaults. The program is open to borrowers who have already modified their loans once, perhaps a few years ago when rates were higher. This, at least, is a good idea. So what's the big difference between the new program and the modifications offered previously?

ISGN CorporationTM (ISGN), a Florida-based provider of end-to-end technology solutions and services to the mortgage industry, teamed up with TRUPOINT Partners, an independent regulatory compliance organization, to offer a comprehensive Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Mock Audit.

Attorneys for Standard & Poor's (S&P) filed Monday a motion to dismiss a civil lawsuit from the federal government accusing the ratings agency of inflating ratings and misrepresenting the creditworthiness of certain securities. Led by Attorney General Eric Holder, the Department of Justice announced in early February a complaint against S&P for allegedly defrauding investors in an attempt to gain more business. At the time, Holder noted that his department had identified more than $5 billion in losses to federally insured financial institutions resulting from collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) rated by S&P between March and December 2007.