Daily Dose

Financial services solutions firm Wolters Kluwer Financial Services (WKFS) released Tuesday its second Regulatory & Risk Management Indicator for the U.S. banking industry, a metric of major concerns worrying banks and credit unions nationwide. According to the latest results, the January 2014 indicator registered 121, a jump up from the 2013 baseline score of 100.

According to numbers from the Census Bureau and HUD, privately owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 907,000, down 0.2 percent from January’s revised estimate of 909,000 and 6.4 percent below the February 2013 rate of 969,000. On just the single-family side, builders started work last month at a rate of 583,000 homes per year, 0.3 percent above January’s revised figure.

Higher housing costs took another bite out of sales activity in California in February, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported Monday. Compiling data from more than 90 local Realtor associations and listing services statewide, C.A.R. determined sales of existing, single-family homes last month came to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 361,210, marking the fourth straight month that sales were below the 400,000 level.

According to an analysis by RE/MAX, bitter weather and a small inventory of homes for sale were the primary factors causing reduced sales activity in the Chicago area in February. The report commented, "Mortgage interest rates, which remain comfortably under 5 percent for 30-year fixed-rate loans, continue providing stimulus to the housing market."

According to the latest Home Index Survey released by PulteGroup, Inc., out of more than 1,000 consumers surveyed in February, a combined 74 percent feel the economy is either better off or the same as it was this time last year. Among respondents in Generation Y, more than half (54 percent) said the economy is in better shape now. What’s more 74 percent said now is a good or excellent time to buy the things they want or need—including homes.

Tight credit conditions have pushed as many as 1.22 million loans out of the market per year over the last few years, researchers at the Urban Institute (UI) assert in a new commentary. Admitting that their calculation method “likely ... [overstates] the impact of tighter credit,” they also calculated a scaled lower bound estimate of 273,000 “missing” first-lien purchase loans—though they maintain the "true" number is likely on the higher end.

In two reports issued separately Monday, Wells Fargo's Economics Group explores two promising trends that both indicate a positive climate for economic growth. The first report follows FDIC loan performance, noting cyclical improvement in loan performance and a trend favorable for credit quality. The second report comments on underwriting practices, noting ongoing relaxing in standards.

After falling in February to the lowest level in nearly a year, builder confidence barely moved in March, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) revealed in its latest Housing Market Index (HMI). According to the group, the index nudged up one point this month, landing on a reading of 47—still a few points shy of the 50 benchmark that separates a market largely perceived as “bad” from one perceived as “good.”

The national median listing price improved to nearly $200,000 last month despite an improvement in inventory numbers, Realtor.com reported in its February Monthly Housing Trend Report. The increase in both list price as well as inventory points to a "strong early beginning to this spring's home buying season," the report said, with Move, Inc., CEO Steve Berkowitz adding, "Overall these figures indicate a continued reinforcement of steady gains and market stabilization that we've been watching since late last summer."

Despite warnings raised by some analysts in the wake of softening data releases, housing is still in the midst of “what appears to be a sustainable rebound,” say officials at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Included in that group is Richard Fisher, Dallas Fed president and CEO and one of the more hawkish Fed governors who will have a vote in monetary policy issues this year.