Category: News and Trends

Expenditures for home improvements should see healthy gains in 2016, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University said.

Offices of the Mortgage Bankers Association remain closed today (Tuesday, Jan. 26) as cleanup efforts from the weekend’s winter storm continue in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday issued a final rule on Federal Home Loan Bank membership that retains a controversial Mortgage Bankers Association-opposed restriction on captive insurers. 

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said the U.S. foreclosure inventory declined by 21.8 percent and completed foreclosures declined by 18.8 percent compared to a year ago.

RealtyTrac, Irvine, Calif., reported foreclosure filings on 1.083 million U.S. properties in 2015, a 3 percent drop from 2014 and a 62 percent decline from their 2010 peak. 

Non-agency commercial mortgage-backed securities issuance totaled $94.59 billion in 2015, up 6.3 percent compared to 2014, reported Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C.

MBA NewsLink recently posed questions to Chuck Rumfola, senior vice president of strategic initiatives with Veros Real Estate Solutions, Santa Ana, Calif.

With mortgage rates all but certain to creep up this year following the Federal Reserve’s decision to boost key interest rates, Black Knight Financial Services, Jacksonville, Fla., said the refinance window that’s been open for years could start to close.

Fitch Ratings, New York, said home improvement spending is in line for another steady increase this year. 

Black Knight Financial Services, Jacksonville, Fla., said its First Look Mortgage Monitor showed foreclosure starts hit a nine-year low in November with fewer than 700,000 active foreclosures remaining in the pipeline.