National News
In an effort to combat the frequently negative reports on the U.S. housing market, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is crafting a new index that emphasizes growing and positive aspects of the
America’s real estate market could be on an “unsustainable path,” faced with an oversupply of homes inaccessible to either renters or buyers. That’s what three Morgan Stanley analysts argue in a recent paper that outlines steps that can be
Standard and Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) recently downgraded Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s credit rating from AAA to AA+ because it’s linked to the long-term debt of the U.S. S&P previously downgraded the U.S.’s credit rating to AA+ as
Freddie Mac reported $27 million in expenses for maintaining and reselling REOs in the second quarter, as opposed to the $257 million reported for the previous
Despite the nation’s credit downgrade, the Federal Housing Finance Agency assured investors that securities issued by the Treasury and other government-sponsored enterprises (GSE) are still
After losing $8.7 billion in the first quarter, Fannie Mae has reported a loss of $5.2 billion in the second quarter. Fannie Mae still owes the Treasury $104.8 billion, but now the Federal Housing Finance Agency is requesting another
Earlier this year, Federal Housing Association (FHA) seemed to be in a steep hole when it came to the REO inventory. However, a recent report shows that FHA has sold a record number of REO in June, breaking the
The Market Composite Index shows that the measure of mortgage loan application volume has increased 7.1 percent this week, while similar numbers have moved up and down. According to Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly applications survey for the week ending
More homebuyers are understanding the importance of green building features and studies show that green-certified homes are worth more than non-certified homes in the housing market. One analysis from the Earth Advantage Institute found that on average green-certified buildings
The real estate market conditions show it’s a good buyers’ market in Miami, but results from the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Home Buyer/Seller Study show buyers this year are not
After weeks of debate over the debt ceiling, Sunday night the compromise deal was agreed upon and the emergency legislation passed in the Senate this morning, 74 to
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act have paved the way for an increase in the required down payment for mortgages, however, many analysts and industry professionals are criticizing this
According to Agent Genius, seller satisfaction rose 4.9 percent with brokerages since 2010, but buyer satisfaction dropped slightly, as tracked by J.D. Power and Associates’ fourth annual Home Buyer/Seller
RealtyTrac’s Midyear 2011 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report studied 211 metropolitan areas, finding that foreclosure activity through June dropped on a year-over-year basis in 84 percent, or 178, of the areas. In addition, the report found that the top ten
This June, NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index rose 2.4 percent to 90.9 – an increase over last month as well as a 19.8 percent increase over June 2010, according to Calculated Risk. However, Fannie Mae is skeptical as to
The National Association of Realtors, along with everyone else, would like to save the housing market. According to the Chicago Tribune, these are their ideas for fixing the industry: creating safe mortgage financing for qualified borrowers, revising underwriting standards,
