News

As home prices increase, more borrowers are rising out of negative equity. Recent data from CoreLogic revealed about 100,000 borrowers moved out of negative equity during the third quarter of 2012, bringing the total number of homeowners who transitioned from negative to positive territory in 2012 to 1.4 million so far.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance plunged 37,000 for the week ending January 12 to 335,000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to drop to 368,000 from the prior week.

Builders broke ground on new homes at the rate of 954,000 in December, a 12.1 percent jump over November and the most since July 2008, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Thursday. Applications for residential permits rose a modest 0.3 percent, and residential completions rose 1.6 percent. Rebuilding in the wake of superstorm Sandy contributed to the increase in total starts as activity in the Northeast jumped to a pace of 85,000 from 70,000 in November.

Genworth Financial announced a new comprehensive capital plan for its mortgage insurance business on Wednesday.

For homeowners who may have faced a foreclosure or obtained a modification in 2012, there may be free tax advice available through a NeighborWorks America organization. NeighborWorks announced several of its organizations provide free tax preparation services for low- and moderate-income clients.

The long-awaited definition of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) ability to repay rule and qualified mortgage standards have been unveiled, and Capital Economics says the new rules will not hamper the housing recovery. Previously, some concern circulated the industry that the qualified mortgage rule would be too limiting, possibly shutting reasonably safe borrowers out of the market and stalling a market recovery.

Economic activity expanded in the closing weeks of 2012, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book released Wednesday, reflecting a slow but steadily declining unemployment rate and low rates of inflation--conditions the Fed said would have to be met before it raises interest rates. According to the Beige Book, districts reported stronger consumer spending--about 70 percent of the nation's GDP--with holiday sales ""modestly higher"" than in 2011. At the same time, the report said business contacts were ""citing concerns that consumers will spend cautiously due to ongoing fiscal uncertainty.""

Citing ""strong underlying performance across virtually all [its] businesses,"" JPMorgan Chase reported record profits for its third straight year. According to its quarterly filing, JPMorgan took in $5.7 billion in net income during 2012's final quarter, up 53 percent from the same quarter in 2011. For all of 2012, the bank reported a record $21.3 billion. Much of that profit came on the bank of JPMorgan's strengthened mortgage business.

RE/MAX co-founder and chairman Dave Liniger says he expects the national housing market's rebound in 2012 to not only continue into 2013, but he also thinks the year could be the best the industry has seen in a very long time. Liniger also offered his top 10 predictions for the year in a video presentation. According to the RE/MAX research team, Liniger's predictions for 2012 were 85 percent accurate.

A three-panel judge representing the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Tenth Circuit sided with Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) in a case involving a split-the-note theory.