News

The balance of power in the housing market is continuing its tilt back to buyers—and that could spell a surge in home sales in the coming months. In the brokerage's latest Real-Time Housing Market Tracker, Redfin Chief Economist Nela Richardson notes two ongoing trends indicating a shift to a more balanced market as the nation heads into fall.

A report released Thursday by FDIC showed that federally insured institutions earned $40.2 billion and increased loan and lease balances by $178.5 billion (to $8.1 trillion) in the second quarter. The boost in lending was the largest quarterly increase since the fourth quarter of 2007.

The nation's leading online real estate marketplace, Auction.com, has announced that Mindy Heppberger has been named the company's new EVP and chief legal officer.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that gross domestic product (GDP) grew last quarter at an annualized rate of 4.2 percent, a little bit better than the 4.0 percent growth originally recorded in last month's initial estimate. Economists had expected no change from the first report.

Colorado's unemployment rate dropped to 5.3 percent in July, and the state's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a rate of two points faster than the national average in 2013, according to a recent report from Wells Fargo's Economics Group. Where housing recovery is concerned, however, Colorado's struggles mirror those of the country as a whole, according to Wells Fargo.

Having hit their lowest level of 2014 last week, mortgage rates barely budged in the latest market report from Freddie Mac. The company reported Thursday the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 4.10 percent (0.5 point) for the week ending August 28, unchanged heading into the Labor Day holiday.

The 2014 Five Star Conference and Expo will feature an important industry event hosted by Brian Montgomery, former Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner and current chairman of the Collingwood Group, a Washington, D.C.-based mortgage lending business advisory firm.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Thursday a 3.3 percent monthly increase in its Pending Home Sales Index for July, putting the index at 105.9. With July's increase, the index has now risen for four of the last five readings, seeing a slight retreat in June. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said sales activity benefited from increasingly favorable conditions for buyers in the housing market.

A report filed last week by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) states that Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae ignored "red flags" with regards to a mortgage fraud scheme perpetrated by lenders Taylor, Bean & Whitaker and Colonial Bank. In addition to the losses absorbed by Freddie Mac (almost $2 billion) and Ginnie Mae (almost $1 billion), private banks that conducted business with Taylor Bean lost billions.

Boosted by an increase in secondary market purchases and a decline in sales, Freddie Mac's portfolio grew for the first time this year in July. The mortgage giant reported 0.1 percent annualized growth in its total mortgage portfolio last month—a turnaround after six straight months of declines. Year-to-date, the portfolio's annualized growth rate is -1.7 percent.