National News

Competition in YOY Forecast

Early reports on Augusts’ Year Over Year (YOY) forecast have lead to competing forecasts between financial and economic analysts. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) estimated that home sales this July ran at a SAAR of 4.67 million, a

Housing "Disturbia" for Rihanna

Pop star Rihanna is a good girl gone bad – at least when Beverly Hills real estate is concerned. The chart-topping singer is suing Prudential California Realty, the company that sold her a 10,000-square-foot mansion for $6.9 million in

Hidden Housing Help in Obama's Jobs Bill

Housing experts were none too kind to President Obama after his non-specific mention of housing in a major jobs speech last week, but it appears that his jobs bill, the more heavily promoted policy of the speech, does contain aid

Delinquent Homeowners Get Second Chance From Freddie

Freddie Mac has finalized requirements on a new “Standard Modification,” a loan modification program for delinquent homeowners who did not meet requirements for the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Officially launching in January, the new program will begin

Mortgage Applications Recover Resoundingly with 6.3 Percent Gain

The Market Composite Index, a study of mortgage loan application volume that is compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association, rose 6.3 percent last week, bouncing back from a disappointing 4.9 percent decline the week before. Despite historically-low interest rates, mortgage

Is the Realtor Profession Becoming More Dangerous?

September is the National Association of Realtor’s “Realtor Safety Month,” and to coincide with the month, real estate website AgentGenius conducted surveys and interviews to assess Realtor safety in 2011. The site’s findings were both frightening and educational. Andrew

Want Simpler Mortgage Lending Documents? CFPB Does, Too

Continuing in its goal of creating universal lending documents for the mortgage industry, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has begun a fourth round of product testing this week, focusing on two different loans that appear on the same

Residential Delinquency Rates Decline in Second Quarter

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the major delinquency rates for multifamily units fell in four of the five major investor groups, which includes FDIC-insured banks, life insurance providers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The rates

Obama Housing Plan a Reanimator of HARP

According to analysts at Barclays, a global financial services provider, the new housing plans recently announced by President Obama amount to a revamp of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), not an all-out expansion. Fears over the President’s comments

Top Stories for Sept. 5 – Sept. 9

New historically-low interest rates, positive builders indexes, and speculation and analysis of President Barack Obama’s housing policies were some of the top national stories this week on Chicago Agent magazine’s

Lawmakers Move to Maintain Federal Loan Ceiling

Federal loan limits are set to decline on Oct. 1, and New York Congressman Gary Ackerman, along with 36 other lawmakers, is lobbying to stop that from

NAHB Aims to Highlight Housing Gains with New Index

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) launched the First American Improving Market Index (IMI) today to track metropolitan regions showing significant signs of growth. This comes as good news to a housing industry that has become accustomed to

President Non-specific on Housing in Address

In a much-touted speech on the economy last night, President Barack Obama largely skipped the topic of housing, opting instead to comment what many had predicted: that the White House was looking to revise its “Home Affordable Refinance Program” to

Multifamily Units Looking Increasingly Robust on NAHB Index

The Multifamily Production Index (MPI), a statistic compiled by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) that measures multifamily unit construction, increased for the fourth consecutive quarter, another sign that the multifamily market is

Freddie Mac Redefines History with New 30-Year FRM Rate

So much for history – after reaching 50-year lows on Aug. 18, the 30-year FRM from Freddie Mac has hit a new historical low, this time reaching 4.12

Will Obama Speak About Housing Tonight?

President Obama is scheduled to address the nation tonight on the economy, and the real estate industry is filled with anticipation – apprehension, even – on what the President will say about housing, if anything at

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