News

Personal income dropped $505.5 billion, or 3.6 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) fell $491.4 billion, or 4.0 percent, in January, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, reported Friday. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $18.2 billion, or 0.2 percent in January. In December, personal income increased $353.4 billion, or 2.6 percent, DPI increased $325.7 billion, or 2.7 percent, and PCE increased $14.8 billion, or 0.1 percent, based on revised estimates.

Freddie Mac pulled in a net profit of $11 billion for 2012, significant increase from the annual net loss of $5.3 billion in 2011. In addition, Freddie Mac's fourth quarter net income climbed to $4.5 billion, up from $2.9 billion in the third quarter of last year. According to the company's earnings release, the increase reflects a decrease in delinquent single-family loans, improved national home prices, and a higher income tax benefit. ""It's clear from our earnings that the housing market has turned a corner and that our work to minimize legacy losses and build a strong new book of business is paying off,"" said Freddie Mac CEO Donald H. Layton in a release.

HUD unveiled on Thursday an app for iPhone and iPad devices designed to provide the public and the housing industry with a quick and easy way to learn about the Fair Housing Act and to file discrimination complaints. The app, developed by HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity and Hewlett Packard (HP), is already being promoted by fair housing groups and other civil rights advocacy organizations as a tool to help consumers pursue their housing rights.

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs continued a series of hearings on the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Thursday morning. Representatives heard from various members of the housing industry, who expressed their opinions of FHA's recent performance and ongoing role in the market. The six panelists discussed the appropriateness of FHA's countercyclical role in the housing market in recent years, with special attention to loan limits and FHA's market share.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) offered an early look at mortgage performance in January 2013 and reported a downward trend for mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. At the end of January, the mortgage delinquency rate, which includes loans 30 days or more past due, stood at 7.03 percent, representing a 2.03 percent decline from December 2012 and an 8.35 percent decrease from January 2012. Meanwhile, the national foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate averaged 3.41 percent, falling 0.82 percent month-over-month while making a steep 19.39 percent drop year-over-year.

Following a vote in the Senate, Jack Lew is officially the Secretary of the Treasury. The Senate voted Wednesday 71-26 to confirm Lew, who was previously President Obama's chief of staff. Lew replaces Tim Geithner, who stepped down at the end of January; deputy secretary Neal Wolin had been filling in in the meantime.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board announced the release of amendments to their enforcement actions against 13 mortgage servicers over mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices. The amendments memorialize foreclosure agreements made between the regulators and 13 servicers. According to the release, 4.2 million borrowers are covered by the amendment and should expect to receive compensation ranging from hundreds of dollars up to $125,000. Rust Consulting, Inc., the paying agent, will contact borrowers by the end of March of this year with payment details.

While still at an elevated level, foreclosure inventory is fading and has fallen for 15 straight months as of January 2013, CoreLogic reported Thursday. According to the data provider's foreclosure inventory report, the number of homes in some stage of the foreclosure process is now down to 1.2 million as of January. Year-over-year, foreclosure inventory has fallen 21 percent from 1.5 million. The number of homes lost to the foreclosure process also declined from a year ago, but increased on a monthly basis.

Foreclosure-related are on the decline but distressed sales continue to claim a disproportionately high portion of total home sales across the country, according to RealtyTrac's most recent foreclosure and short sales report. The firm also found increases in prices for distressed properties in 2012. Distressed property sales made up 43 percent of all home sales nationwide in 2012, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosure-related sales made up 21 percent of all sales, while non-foreclosure short sales made up 22 percent of sales.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. The nation's economy increased at a 0.1 percent seasonally adjusted annualized rate. Last month, in the advance GDP release, BEA had reported the nation's economy contracted by 0.1 percent, the first ""negative growth"" since the end of the Great Recession in mid-2009. Economists had expected the turnaround, but to a stronger 0.5 percent growth rate.