Category Archives: housing market

New-Home Sales, Case Shiller Index On the Rise

The Mortgage Corner–II As if to confirm U.S. housing starts and building permits’ jump to their highest levels in nearly 7-1/2 years, the sales rate of new single-family houses in April 2015 rose even higher at a seasonally adjusted annual … Continue reading →

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Housing Construction Surge—Sign of Better Times?

The Mortgage Corner U.S. housing starts jumped to their highest level in nearly 7-1/2 years in April and permits soared, hopeful signs for an economy that is struggling to regain strong momentum after a dismal first quarter. And that is … Continue reading →

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Fannie and Freddie Didn’t Do It!

Financial FAQs As if further confirmation was needed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not even a minor cause of the housing bubble and consequent bust, the latest judgment against Nomura Securities for selling fraudulent mortgages to Fannie and … Continue reading →

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2015 Housing Construction Will Surge

The Mortgage Corner We believe housing construction is about to bloom this spring, due to growing employment. For starters, an additional 45,000 construction jobs were added to nonfarm payrolls in April. This is even though construction spending to date has … Continue reading →

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March New-Home Sales A Dud

“Sales of new single-family houses in March 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 11.4 percent … Continue reading →

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March Existing-Home Sales Spike

The Mortgage Corner Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 6.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million in March from 4.89 million in February—the highest annual rate … Continue reading →

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Fannie Says Better Growth For Rest of 2015

Popular Economics Weekly “Economic activity was suppressed in the first quarter due largely to the West Coast port disruptions and difficult weather patterns across the Northeast, but the economy is expected to gain momentum throughout the spring and reach previously … Continue reading →

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Mortgage Delinquencies Close to Pre-Recession Lows.

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk reports Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS) released their Mortgage Monitor report for February on Monday. According to BKFS, 5.36 percent of mortgages were delinquent in February, down from 5.56 percent in January. BKFS reported that … Continue reading →

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Housing In Recovery-Pending Home Sales Soar

The Mortgage Corner February Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 3.1 percent to 106.9 in February from a slight downward revision of 103.7 in January and is now 12.0 percent above February 2014 (95.4). … Continue reading →

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Why Doesn’t Government Want Fannie, Freddie to Succeed?

The Mortgage Corner At a time when the housing market is just beginning to recover, the US Treasury wants to close down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two GSEntities under government conservatorship. Counselor to the Secretary for Housing Finance … Continue reading →

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