MortgageOrb, Feb. 19, 2016
The delinquency rate (30 days or more past due) for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.77% of all loans outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey.
Scotsman Guide, Feb. 19, 2016–Whitman, Victor
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt warned this week that the government’s course of eliminating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s capital buffers could lead to future taxpayer bailouts of the government-sponsored enterprises that could destabilize the housing market.
Wall Street Journal, Feb. 19, 2016–Davidson, Kate
U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in January but rose over the past year at the fastest clip since October 2014, a sign inflation may be firming despite a strong dollar and continued slide in energy prices.
National Mortgage Professional, Feb. 19, 2016–Hall, Phil
This year started off on a very slow foot for loan closings, according to the latest Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae, which found the average time close purchase loans and refinance loans expanded one day in January to 51 and 47, respectively.
HousingWire, Feb. 19, 2016–Lane, Ben
The Treasury Department announced Friday it is boosting the Hardest Hit Fund by as much as $2 billion to a number of states, citing the need to continue to support the recovery from the housing crisis in the communities that were impacted the most.
The Oklahoman, Feb. 19, 2016–Harney, Kenneth R.
Everybody knows that congressional Democrats and Republicans can barely agree on anything. Yet in a rare and fleeting moment of unanimity in the House of Representatives, they recently approved legislation that could expand purchase prospects for thousands of people looking to buy their first home.
Bloomberg, Feb. 19, 2016–Kitroeff, Natalie
The Obama administration put forward a plan that could fundamentally alter the way the government confronts claims of fraud by student debtors.
Reuters, Feb. 19, 2016–Mutikani, Lucia
Rising rents and healthcare costs lifted underlying U.S. inflation in January by the most in nearly 4-1/2 years, signs of a pick-up in price pressures that could allow the Federal Reserve to gradually raise interest rates this year.
UExpress, Feb. 19, 2016–Sichelman, Lew
Buying a house is a journey that ends at the closing table, with a mountain of papers that most people don’t read, and never will. But sometimes, the trip doesn’t end where it should.
HousingWire, Feb. 19, 2016–Lane, Ben
Ocwen Financial is about to add a big name to its board of directors, as the nonbank announced Friday that Carol Galante, the former commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, is set to join the company’s board.
