Secondary Market

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has taken the next step toward building a new common securitization platform for the GSEs with the filing of a certificate to establish a joint venture.

A new index from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and First American suggests that about one in seven housing markets have returned to or surpassed their pre-recessionary levels of activity. According to the association, the index registered a score of 0.85 nationwide, indicating that the national housing market is running at 85 percent of normal activity. Of the nearly 350 metro markets examined, 52 have reported levels of activity at least equal to those before the recession hit.

In an effort to keep the mortgage market running as smoothly as possible, Freddie Mac issued Monday temporary guidance for lenders to continue approving loans for eligible borrowers during the federal shutdown. Dave Lowman, EVP of single-family business at the GSE, said the bulletin is intended to give lenders the certainty to continue approving and delivering new mortgages that meet Freddie Mac guidelines to eligible borrowers, such as federal employees and contractors, during the temporary shutdown.

In California, Stearns Lending, Inc., appointed Kathleen L. Vaughan to the newly created role of EVP of national third-party production.

In the latest of its consumer education videos, Zillow recently sat down with the Bipartisan Policy Center's (BPC) Barry Zigas to discuss the center's ideas for GSE reform.

As part of its ongoing efforts to diversify its mortgage services, Newbold Advisors has tapped the talents of 25-year veteran Jim Horne. He will serve as managing director in the firm's Washington, D.C., office. Horne has decades of diversified corporate and consulting experience, primarily in financial services companies.

According to recently published data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), the homeownership rate was down in 2012 for the fifth consecutive year, falling to 63.9 percent. "By most measures, 2012 was a year of housing market recovery, with gains in housing construction, home sales, home prices, and mortgage originations. However ... the homeownership rate did not follow suit," said Patrick Simmons, director of strategic planning for Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group.

Alan Fields, executive director for the Florida Land Title Association, has joined WFG National Title, the company announced.

Nationwide Title Clearing, Inc. (NTC), a post-closing services provider for the residential mortgage industry, has been recognized by the Florida Business Journals as one of the state's fastest-growing companies.

Trulia is the latest company to report a monthly slowdown in home prices--and trends indicate yearly gains may soon cool as well. "Asking home prices give us the first look at where home sale prices are headed, and they point to a slowdown," said Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko. "After rising rapidly in the first half of 2013, asking prices in two thirds of the largest metros are cooling. In fact, asking prices are falling--not just rising more slowly--in 11 of the 100 largest metros, the most markets to see prices slip in six months."