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IHS Puts New Hampshire Under Microscope for Swing State Report

IHS Global Insight's examination of presidential swing states continued Thursday with a look at New Hampshire's relatively shaky economy. Growth performance in the Granite State has been mostly unimpressive. The state's 0.4 percent average job gain for the first two quarters of the year included payroll shrinkage across a number of sectors, including manufacturing, retail trade, finance, administrative support, and healthcare.

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FHFA to Raise G-fees for High Default States

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) plans to change the guarantee fees (g-fees) the GSEs charge on single-family mortgages. Starting in 2013, g-fees will be higher in some states than others, according to a notice sent to the Federal Register. Currently, g-fees are the same throughout the country. However, the FHFA has noticed ""a wide variation among states in the costs that the Enterprises incur from mortgage defaults,"" according to its notice to the Federal Register.

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Household Net Worth Falls in Q2: Fed Report

Despite a $355 billion increase in the value of household real estate, household net worth fell $322 billion in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday in its quarterly Flow of Funds report. And, while the value of owner-occupied household real estate increased in the second quarter, total residential mortgage debt fell almost $51 billion. As a result, owners' equity increased just over $406 billion and owners' equity as percentage of the value of the real estate rose to 43.1 percent, the highest level since Q2 2008, according to the report.

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Economists Far More Optimistic on Future of Housing Prices: Survey

A strengthening housing market in the past few months has economists making more bullish predictions about the recovery, Zillow revealed Thursday. The company released the results of its most recent Home Price Expectations Survey, showing that economists surveyed expect home prices to rise by a total of 2.3 percent during 2012. This change in sentiment is a major turnaround from June, when respondents predicted home prices would experience a net decline this year.

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Survey Finds Most Investors Will Increase or Maintain Activity

Foreclosure inventory is shrinking. Prices are rising. But, despite these changes in the investor landscape, it will be business as usual for real estate investors, according to a survey jointly released by BiggerPockets.com and Memphis Invest. The survey found that 65 percent of active real estate investors plan to buy as many or more residential properties in the next 12 months as they did in the past.

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Fixed Mortgage Rates Find New Lows in Wake of QE3 Announcement

The Federal Reserve's announcement confirming a third round of quantitative easing sent long-term mortgage rates tumbling to all-new record lows this week. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed a drop in both the 30-year and 15-year fixed. According to the survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.49 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending September 20, down from 3.55 percent the week before. The 15-year FRM also fell this week, averaging 2.77 percent (0.6 point). The previous survey showed an average of 2.85 percent.

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First-Time Jobless Claims Dip, Remain Elevated

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 3,000 to 382,000 for the week ended September 15, the Labor Department reported Thursday, topping market expectations. The previous week's report was revised upward to 385,000 first time claims from the originally reported 382,000 which, the department said, included 9,000 claims attributable to hurricane Isaac.

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