News

Builder confidence improved two points in August to 37, its highest level since February 2007, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the index to remain flat at 35. The improvement in the index in August marked the fourth straight month-month gain. The overall index has gained 22 points in the last year, the largest one-year gain since February 1992. The August reading also marked the third straight month the index was more than double what it had been one year earlier.

Despite a dip from June, July marked the seventh straight month for year-over-year increases in home sales in Southern California, DataQuick reported Tuesday. A total of 20,588 new and resale houses and condos sold in the region during the month, down 6.7 percent from June up 13.8 percent from July 2011. The month's sales were 19.4 percent lower than the average July total since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil injunctive action against Ivan Wade Brown and two of his companies - Highland Residential, LLC and Avanti Capital Partners, LLC - the agency announced in a release Tuesday. The SEC alleges in a complaint that Brown solicited over 93 investors via mail, email, and phone and managed to raise over $27 million through the fraudulent and unregistered sale of promissory notes in Highland and Avanti.

Analysts with Fitch Ratings found a lot to like about the recent second-quarter earnings for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The consensus: Stronger mortgage portfolios mean less pressure on Congress and the next administration, giving Fannie and Freddie some elbow-room as their legacy portfolios shrink.

SEC announced Tuesday that it has charged Wells Fargo's brokerage firm and former VP Shawn McMurtry for selling investments tied to mortgage-backed securities without fully understanding them or disclosing the risks involved. SEC said the firm's representatives did not understand the true nature, risks, and volatility behind such products and recommended them to investors with ""conservative investment objectives.""

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he does not support the use of eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages at a committee hearing Tuesday, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

For borrowers who refinanced in the second quarter, shorter fixed-rate mortgages dominated consumer preferences. Among those who refinanced in Q2, more than 95 percent opted for fixed-rate loans, according to the Freddie Mac Quarterly Product Transition Report.

CoreLogic announced an enhanced version of its OnSite report.

The first half of 2012 saw more than 385,000 permanent loan modifications for struggling homeowners, HOPE NOW reported Tuesday. The voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage professionals and non-profit counselors released its June 2012 data, showing that 385,468 homeowners received permanent loan modifications for the first half of the year.

In Colorado, foreclosure filings were on the rise year-over-year in July, while foreclosure sales were down, according to a report from the Colorado Division of Housing. Foreclosure filings, which represent the beginning of the foreclosure process, spiked up 14 percent to 1,976 in July from 1,733 a year ago the same month. Foreclosure sales, which represent the time when the foreclosure process is completed, fell 23.7 percent to 865.