Secondary Market

As the spring homebuying season moves into full swing, the American Land Title Association (ALTA) is encouraging consumers to consider title insurance to make sure their American dream is protected.

According to NAHB, the number of housing markets showing "sustained improvement" fell to 258 from April's 273.

Flagstar Bancorp, Inc., and MBIA Inc. announced a settlement between the two companies related to transactions on securities that flopped during the housing crisis.

In an analysis released in response to the Census Bureau's report that homeownership hit an 18-year low in the first quarter, Capital Economics warns that we may not have seen the bottom yet. The firm predicted last year that the homeownership rate would decline to a low of 64 percent--a forecast it insists will come sometime within the next year. One factor contributing to the downward trend in homeownership is tight lending standards, Capital Economics says.

The slow pace of the economic recovery has done little to temper optimism among executives in the commercial real estate (CRE) sector, according to DLA Piper's 2013 State of the Market Survey. Eighty-five percent of executives surveyed described themselves as having a bullish outlook, the survey shows. That's a massive turnaround from the 2011 survey (the most recent previous report), when only 30 percent of respondents characterized themselves as bullish.

Imagine if someone removed the speedometer from your car and then put limits on how fast or slow you could drive.

Both GSEs suggest without a government guarantee, even a mild downturn could impact their ability to operate and support affordable housing programs.

Sabal Financial Group announced the expansion of its commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) business with the launch of Sabal Commercial Advisors.

Pacific Union Financial, LLC, announced the addition of two new sales executives to their wholesale and correspondent lending teams.

The economy added 165,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.5.percent, its lowest level since December 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 153,000, and that the unemployment rate would remain at 7.6 percent.