Origination

The number of people buying homes in the U.S. has increased 5 percent within the last two years. Still, the survey found 2 in 5 American consumers feel there is a lack of inventory in their price range and 44 percent said they are not familiar with home affordability programs.

In recent interviews, the Fed has made it clear they want to move away from the pledge to be patient. They have held their benchmark short-term rate, the federal funds rate, near zero since December 2008. The lackluster housing market was concern on Yellen’s mind when she gave the speech emphasizing the patience pledge.

In the 1980s, only 3 to 4 percent of homes were sold in bidding wars. From 1995 to 2005 that number skyrocketed, with Washington D.C., having on the highest rates at nearly 30 percent of homes sold involved in bidding wars. However, according to the study although an increase in bidding wars was correlated with economic and housing booms, that rise was not consistent from one jurisdiction to another. In the Houston, the rate was only 11 percent, even though the city benefited from the housing boom.

On a national scale, with 20 percent down, a buyer would need to earn a salary of $48,603.82 to afford the median-priced home. Of course it is possible to buy a home with less than a 20 percent down payment, but a lower down payment means the buyer’s salary must be higher to afford the same home. In the national example above, a purchase of a median-priced home with only 10 percent down and including the cost of PMI increases the income needed to $56,140.44, an increase of $7,500.

Quicken has been involved in several lawsuits involving overtime pay for its mortgage workers, including a class-action federal suit brought by 400 former employees that the company won in 2011. In that case, a federal jury ruled that the Quicken employees did not qualify for overtime pay because the federal rules in effect during their time at the company didn't require it, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Cash sales made up 35 percent of all home sales in December 2014, according to data released by CoreLogic today. December marks the 24th consecutive month of declines in year-to-year share numbers, which has fallen each month since January 2013. Because of seasonality, cash sale comparisons are best when looking at year-to-year data. Cash transactions hit its peak in January 2011 when cash transactions made up 46.5 percent of total home sales. Before the housing crisis, the cash sale share of total home sales averaged at about 25 percent. If the trend of cash sales decline continues at the same rate, the share should reach 25 percent by the middle of 2017.

Level of affordability varies by state with Washington D.C., Hawaii and Alaska all being less affordable now than in the pre-bubble years. In Washington D.C. the current payment-to-income ratio is 40 percent, which is lower than the 62 percent ratio shown at the peak of the housing bubble. Michigan, Texas, and Florida currently have ratios under the national average, with Michigan having a low ratio at 16.9 percent.

MetLife admitted that from September 2008 through March 2012, it repeatedly certified for FHA insurance mortgage loans that did not meet HUD underwriting requirements. The bank admitted it was aware that a substantial percentage of these loans were not eligible for FHA mortgage insurance due to its own internal quality control findings.

In the decision, Justice David Saxe wrote for a five-judge panel that the Bank of New York Mellon did not abuse discretion in arranging the settlement, but the court also said Barbara Kapnick, the state judge who approved the accord in January, erred in excluding claims by investors regarding loan modifications on the ground that the trustee didn’t properly investigate their strength, according to Reuters.

Banks were tested under a hypothetical scenario featuring a deep recession with unemployment peaking at 10 percent, a decline in home prices of 25 percent, a stock market drop of nearly 60 percent and together the banks would see a projected $340 million total in loan losses. Results shows the bank’s aggregate tier 1 common capital ratio, which compares high-quality capital to risk weighted assets, would fall from 11.9 percent in the third quarter of 2014 to a minimum level of 8.2 percent in the scenario. This minimum level is higher than the 5.5 percent measure in 2009 and the 7.9 percent ratio from last year.