News

A month before her swearing-in, Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is already making waves in Washington. The Huffington Post reports Warren has been selected to fill a soon-to-be-open seat on the Senate Banking Committee.

FDIC-insured banks continued to show improving health in the year's third quarter, the agency reported Tuesday. Commercial banks and savings institution insured by FDIC reported aggregate net income of $37.6 billion in Q3, up from a reported $35.2 billion in Q3 2011. Meanwhile, negative indicators continued to fall. The number of banks on FDIC's ""Problem List"" declined for the sixth straight quarter, dropping from 732 to 694. The third quarter also marked the first time in three years that there have been fewer than 700 banks on the list.

Martin J. Gruenberg is the board's new chairman, and Thomas M. Hoenig is the new vice chairman. The Senate confirmed the men for their respective positions in mid-November. President Obama signed the orders shortly thereafter, making the confirmations official.

National gains for rentals still grew faster than asking prices for homes in November, but in certain metros, the trend was reversed, Trulia reported Tuesday. According to data from Trulia, rent prices in November increased by 5.6 percent year-over-year, while asking prices for homes were up 3.8 percent, representing the biggest increase so far this year. Even though rents stayed ahead with bigger improvements, asking prices in 14 of the 25 largest rental markets managed to post greater increases compared to rents, the data provider revealed.

Compared to 2011, home prices continued to show strong gains in October and posted their biggest yearly increase since June 2006, according to data from CoreLogic. Home prices--including distressed sale--climbed 6.3 percent higher year-over-year in October, marking the eighth consecutive month of yearly gains. With the conclusion of the home-buying season, home prices dropped by 0.2 percent from September to October. According to the data provider's pending home price index, prices should further increase yearly by 7.1 percent in November.

Clear Capital released a new market report Tuesday, tracking home prices through the end of November. Nationally, quarterly price gains were cut by more than half compared to readings from the month before. For November, home prices edged up just 1 percent. Even with fewer fair market sellers listing their homes, Clear Capital says REO sales held steady at 18.4 percent of total sales--a level that will put minimial pressure on home prices should it hold through the winter months.

There were 58,000 foreclosures completed in the United States during the month of October, CoreLogic reported Monday with the release of its latest National Foreclosure Report. October's tally was down 17 percent from last year when 70,000 foreclosures were completed during the month. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures fell 25 percent after September's count was revised upward from the previously reported 57,000 to 77,000. CoreLogic says the larger-than-usual revision was due to an annual online auction of delinquent tax properties in Wayne County, Michigan, that weren't included in the earlier assessment.

A controversial bill that would extend an increase on guarantee fees (g-fees) on mortgages backed by the GSEs or the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has passed in the House of Representatives. The bill, H.R. 6429 proposes reforms for visas offered to immigrants who possess advanced training in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.

The Bethesda/Gateway office of Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., was recently presented with a proclamation from Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot in recognition of the sales office surpassing $1 billion in settled real estate sales for 2012.

The Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting consumers from predatory lending practices, and the Financial Services Roundtable, a group of representatives from the nation's largest financial institutions, have come together to ask Congress to extend the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, which will otherwise expire at the end of this year. The two groups argue that if lawmakers fail to act, it will make it difficult for struggling homeowners to accept short sale, and even loan modification, offers.