Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2016–McLaughlin, Katy
A hot housing market is driving buyers to pay exorbitant sums for old, frumpy houses, knowing they’ll pay plenty more to remake them to modern tastes. Others currently own dowdy houses and choose to renovate rather than relocate.
HousingWire, May 5, 2016–Gaffney, Jacob
For all the calls to reduce the roles Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play in the mortgage finance world, Timothy Mayopoulos shared this point: Private capital is “unwilling to step in” to replace the government-sponsored enterprises as mortgage finance leaders in the secondary market.
Reuters, May 5, 2016–Mutikani, Lucia
Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, posting the biggest gain in more than a year, but the underlying trend continued to point to a strengthening labor market.
Associated Press, May 5, 2016
The Montana Supreme Court has upheld $426,000 in damages and attorney’s fees awarded to a couple who sued a loan servicing company alleging it violated federal and state laws in repeatedly trying to foreclose on their house.
Bloomberg, May 5, 2016–Barinka, Alex; Basak, Sonali
American International Group Inc.’s mortgage insurer, United Guaranty Corp., is seeking to raise about $700 million to $800 million as it sells shares to the public.
Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2016–Morath, Eric
The Labor Department will release its broad snapshot of the jobs market on Friday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal forecast the report to show employers added a seasonally adjusted 205,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate held steady at 5%.
CNBC, May 4, 2016–Olick, Diana
It was yet another small tick higher for interest rates last week, and it was enough again to hold borrowers back from applying for a mortgage. Total application volume fell 3.4 percent from the week before, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.
National Real Estate Investor, May 4, 2016–Mattson-Teig, Beth
Although fundraising remains strong by historical standards, new capital flowing into global private equity real estate funds took a big step back in first quarter.
Bloomberg, May 4, 2016–Levine, Matt
The new rules demystify some of the magic of banking. They force counterparties to examine the trick more closely, and to confront the fact that it covers up but doesn’t quite eliminate risk.
Consumer Affairs, May 4, 2016–Huffman, Mark
Home buyers aren’t the only consumers paying more to put roofs over their heads. Rents have been rising just as fast, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association–faster in some cases.
