Despite soaring builder confidence, new housing permits and starts fell in June, with new construction falling to the lowest level in 10 months, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new housing permits tumbled 7.5 percent--the largest month-over-month decline since January 2011--while starts fell 9.9 percent, the second-largest drop since February 2011. Builders completed homes at an annual adjusted pace of 755,000 in June, 6.3 percent more than May's 710,000.

[ca_audio url_mp3='http://blogtalk.vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/4/970/show_4970609.mp3' css_class='codeart-google-mp3-player' autoplay='false' download='false' html5='false']Tommy A. Duncan, Chief Executive Officer of Quality Mortgage Services and Certified Mortgage Technologist, discusses the most common loan defects in todays orignation landscape. Quality Mortgage Services is a company that specializes in mortgage loan ...

Servicers provided nearly 74,000 modifications for distressed homeowners in May, up from 70,000 in April, according to data from HOPE NOW, an alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers, and nonprofit counselors. This raises the total for modifications to 6.47 million since 2007, which is when HOPE NOW began keeping track. Short sales also ticked up in May, rising slightly to 28,000, up from 27,000 in April. Since 2009, the industry has provided about 1.29 million short sales to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The new home market in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex continued to see rapid growth in the second quarter, according to a report from Metrostudy, a Hanley Wood company.

Freedman Anselmo Lindberg LLC, a Chicago-based creditors' rights law firm, announced the appointment of four new partners and expanded into four new states.

The Senate Banking Committee reached a milestone in its efforts to stabilize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) with the release of a discussion draft of a new bill Monday. The Federal Housing Administration Solvency Act of 2013, authored by Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Johnson and Ranking Member Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), has provisions to strengthen underwriting, make lenders more accountable, and strengthen the FHA’s reverse mortgage program.

The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). According to the Senate website, Cordray was confirmed in a 66-34 vote. News of the confirmation came hours after an announcement of a 71-29 vote for cloture, effectively putting to an end the debate surrounding Cordray's nomination.

Field Asset Services (FAS) a national property preservation and REO asset management company headquartered in Texas, announced management promotions for four employees.

If it wasn't for cash sales during the housing downturn, sales today would look much weaker, and the dramatic price declines over the past few years would have been even steeper, CoreLogic reported Tuesday. From 2000 to 2005, cash sales remained steady, representing around 25 percent of all sales. When the real estate market crashed in 2007 and 2008, the share of cash sales, driven by the rise in REO sales, jumped and eventually peaked above 40 percent two years ago. For 19 straight months now, cash sales have been declining.

After surging in June, the Housing Market Index, a measure of builder confidence, shot up again in July, climbing six points to 57, its highest reading since January 2006, the National Association of Home Builders reported Tuesday. The two month 13-point gain was the strongest two-month increase since January-February 1992 when the index improved 14 points.