News

June marked the 12th straight month of year-over-year home sales increases in Seattle, according to a report from DataQuick. Although sales in some of the lower price ranges declined, increased activity in higher ranges made up for those drops. The median sale price rose year-over-year for the third consecutive month-hitting a nearly two-year high-as the market shifted toward mid- to high-end transactions and foreclosure resales fell.

Default Attorney Group (DAG) announced it's launching a Commercial Loan Default Symposium in several cities this fall.

A new report suggests that Sacramento, California may follow Phoenix as the next hard-hit metro to rise out of the ashes. Pro Teck Valuation Services released its August Home Value Forecast Update, putting a focus on which of the hardest hit metros might bounce back and become investment or home purchasing opportunities. According to the report, market-based indicators suggest that Sacramento might be ""the next Phoenix,"" referring to the hard-hit Arizona metro that has seen dramatic improvement this year.

FHFA issued a notice Wednesday to warn of the controversial use of eminent domain proposed in San Bernardino County. In the notice, which was sent to the Federal Register, FHFA stated it had 'significant concerns"" about the use of eminent domain to revise existing contracts and alter the value of GSE or Federal Home Loan Bank securities holdings. FHFA said that in relation to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the use of an eminent domain program could result in a cost to taxpayers.

SunTrust is under investigation by HUD regarding its FHA loan origination practices. HUD made its investigation known to the Atlanta-based bank April 25, and in a recent filing, the bank said, ""The Company is cooperating with the investigation."" According to the filing, HUD's investigation pertains ""generally to origination practices for FHA loans.""

Nationwide Title Clearing, Inc. (NTC) announced that it approached Congress requesting that a Safe Harbor provision be built into the definition of the Qualified Mortgage (QM). NTC asserted that a strong legal safe harbor provides the best way of achieving congressional intent to balance consumer safeguards with access to credit.

Things are looking up at Freddie Mac. As of the end of the second quarter, Freddie Mac had a positive net worth and reported it will not require a draw from Treasury this quarter. At the end of June, the GSE had $1.1 billion in net worth. The new net worth is the result of $2.9 billion in comprehensive income during the second quarter. About $1.8 billion was paid to Treasury as dividends on 10 percent preferred stock. Freddie Mac's net income of $3.0 billion in the second quarter is a jump from the $577 million recorded in the first quarter.

HARP-assisted refinances drove record refinance activity in the month of June, FHFA revealed Tuesday. The agency released its Refinance Report for June 2012, showing that refinance volume remained strong in June as mortgage rates fell to all-time lows. An estimated 33 percent of refinance volume was done through HARP, the highest percentage since HARP's inception. The report revealed that at the end of June, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had refinanced 422,969 loans through HARP in 2012, more than the estimated total of 400,000 for all of 2011. This brings the total number of HARP refinances by the GSEs to 1.4 million.

Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois signed a bill into law Friday that raises fees for mortgage company licenses and fines for those who commit mortgage fraud.

When including distressed sales, CoreLogic reported a 2.5 percent yearly increase in home prices in June, and a 1.3 percent increase month-over-month from May. The rise in home prices is the fourth consecutive increase on a yearly and monthly basis, and CoreLogic's Pending HPI is forecasting at least a 0.4 percent monthly increase in July. In response to CoreLogic's report, Capital Economics said that while the gain in June is strong, ""the latest rise was marginally weaker than we would expect in a typical June, meaning that seasonally-adjusted house prices actually eased a touch.""