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Secondary Market

NAHB Touts Affordability of Newer Homes

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) wants people to know they may not be saving money by purchasing older homes. NAHB compared the cost of owning a home built before 1960 to the cost of homes built since 2008 and found that after taxes, the total cost of owning a home in its first year is about 23 percent more for an equally-priced older home.

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Survey: Agents More Optimistic About Housing as Market Shifts

Real estate agents are showing heightened optimism for housing as the market continues its swing toward sellers, Redfin observed in its latest Real-Time Agent Survey. According to brokerage's findings, the number of agents saying now is a good time to buy plummeted from 75 percent in Q3 2012 to just 57 percent in Q1 2013. At the same time, the number of agents saying now is a bad time to buy rose slightly, though the percentage is still low--5 percent in Q1 2013 compared to 2 percent in Q3 2012.

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Genworth Implements Mortgage Capital Insurance Plan

Genworth Financial got the go-ahead to implement its comprehensive capital plan for its mortgage insurance business. The plan has been fully implemented as of April 1, Virginia-based Genworth announced. The plan is expected to reduce Genworth Mortgage Insurance Company's (GMICO) risk-to-capital ratio by about 15 points and lower the combined risk-to-capital ratio of the U.S. mortgage insurance subsidiaries by about 10 points.

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Comptroller Curry Named FFIEC Chairman

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that Comptroller Thomas J. Curry has been named chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) for a two-year term.

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Construction Spending Rises in February

Construction spending rose 1.2 percent month-over-month in February, according to the Census Bureau. Spending rose both in the public and private sectors. On an annual basis, construction spending was up 7.9 percent in February, reaching an annual rate of $885.1 billion. Combined, construction spending in January and February totaled $120.1 billion, which is 6.6 percent above the spending observed in the first two months of last year.

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