Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA were hugely influential in the recent increase of multifamily originations, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). As the MBA explained in a summary of the data, originations

Foreclosure activity was down in the latest foreclosure report from RealtyTrac, which covered foreclosure filings, default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions for the first quarter of 2012. The total properties in these catergories is reported to be 572,928 properties during

Shifting economic factors, including rising rents and competitive home prices, are contributing to a new level of consumer interest in homes, according to Fannie Mae’s March 2012 consumer attitudinal National Housing

Government housing policy since 2008 has been a mixed bag, but the International Monetary Fund is suggesting that more government action, rather than less, may be the answer to the U.S.’ housing woes. In its latest World Economic Outlook

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing a new set of rules that will change how mortgage servicers interact with their consumers. The proposed changes include clarifying billing statements and advance warning of interest-rate changes. “It’s time to

The Federal Reserve issued new policy guidelines to encourage banks to rent out more foreclosed properties and, in effect, bring the number of distressed properties down. According to Reuters, the central bank wrote a policy statement to Congress, suggesting

FHFA Acting Director Ed DeMarco gave tacit support to a principal reductions program for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in comments today before the Brookings Institution. DeMarco, long an opponent of the policy measure, said that under a revised

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury just released the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard for March, showing improvement in some areas from previous months. Raphael Bostic, an assistant secretary for

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has delayed a controversial credit rule that some saw as a major obstacle to homeownership. The rule, which we originally covered last week, would require lenders to analyze the creditworthiness of its borrowers with much

Banks are readying more than one million foreclosed properties for the real estate market in 2012, according to a new study by Moody’s Analytics. The sales will come amidst a turbulent foreclosure landscape. Prices for the 1.25 million REO

Housing inventory is substantially down for existing properties, according to data from the National Association of Realtors, DeptOfNumbers and HousingTracker. Using data from 54 metropolitan areas, HousingTracker has found that active listings in early April were down 20.4 percent

Analysts at JPMorgan Chase have pinpointed arguably the most notable impact of the FHA’s new credit rule – its affect on builders and first-time homebuyers. As we reported just last week, a new regulation from the the FHA is now

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) added 13 more metropolitan areas to its Improving Markets Index (IMI), pushing the total to 101 cities. Representative of 35 states, the IMI, a unique survey of the nation’s best-performing urban area, has grown steadily

By Claire Easley As the housing market entered its steep decline during the latter part of the past decade, it took home sizes with it. While there was much to bemoan about the state of the industry, among designers

By Lani Rosales, AGBeat RealSupport CEO and President Carrie Gable set out to put real estate assistants in agents’ offices without taking up an extra desk, making the process completely virtual. What separates RealSupport, founded in 2000, in the

By Lani Rosales, AGBeat The free tool FellowUp offers to be your virtual assistant by integrating your LinkedIn, Facebook and Google accounts and organizing not only your calendar items, but also your contacts’ demographic information and any notes you