National Mortgage News, Feb. 8, 2019–Elina Tarkazikis (subscription)The share of home shoppers planning on buying a house within a year tanked in the fourth quarter, and those who are searching blame affordability struggles for their setbacks, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
Category: Top National News
CoesterVMS Shuts Down
HousingWire, Feb. 8, 2019–Jacob GaffneyThe office furniture is sold. The website is down. No one answers the phone. Everyone stateside is now laid off. The chief executive officer is currently focused on a new line of work. For all intents and purposes, CoesterVMS, one of the nation’s largest appraisal management companies, is now out of business.
Facing Opposition, Amazon Reconsiders NY Headquarters Site, Two Officials Say
Washington Post, Feb. 8, 2019–Robert McCartney, Jonathan O’Connell, Patricia SullivanAmazon.com is reconsidering its plan to bring 25,000 jobs to a new campus in New York City following a wave of opposition from local politicians.
California Homeowners Face Higher Prices for a Scarce Commodity: Wildfire Insurance
Wall Street Journal, Feb. 10, 2019–Nicole Friedman (subscription)Californians who want to insure their homes against the next wildfire are paying a price for two years of record-breaking blazes. Home-insurance companies in the Golden State are canceling some policies, refusing to sell new ones in certain areas and applying for rate increases as they look to cut back on wildfire risk.
Hold On to Your Wallet
UExpress, Feb. 8, 2019–Lew SichelmanFraud isn’t exactly rampant in the mortgage field. But it does happen, perhaps more frequently than you’d think.
Mortgage Rates Tumble to 10-Month Low
Washington Post, Feb. 7, 2019–Kathy OrtonAccording to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average dropped to 4.41 percent with an average 0.4 point. It was 4.46 percent a week ago and 4.32 percent a year ago. The 30-year fixed rate hasn’t been this low since early April. (MBA mention)
Mortgage Credit Jumped in January as Lenders Adjusted to End of HARP
Mortgage Orb, Feb. 7, 2019–Patrick BarnardMortgage credit availability increased 2.3% in January compared with December to reach a score of 179.0 on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index.
Fewer Consumers Say Home Prices, Mortgage Rates Will Grow in 2019
National Mortgage News, Feb. 7, 2019–Elina Tarkazikis (subscription)Consumers have higher household incomes and more faith in cooling home price and mortgage rate growth than they did a year ago, which could allude to a stabilized housing market in 2019, according to Fannie Mae.
Wells Fargo Suffers Widespread Outage of Online, Mobile Banking
HousingWire, Feb. 7, 2019–Ben LaneEarly Thursday morning, “Wells Fargo” began trending on social media as people complained that they could not get access to their Wells Fargo banking information, use their debit cards, or pay their mortgages.
BB&T-SunTrust: Three Big Questions
American Banker, Feb. 7, 2019–Paul Davis (subscription)BB&T finally scored the type of deal it has coveted for nearly two decades–a massive acquisition that puts it one step closer to becoming a top-five bank.