Tag Archives: Mortgage Applications

The Department of Treasury and HUD jointly released the Housing Scorecard for May on Thursday, finding that housing markets remain fragile with a seven-month stretch of declining home prices. The scorecard tracks monthly housing and economic data. The May edition called housing prices weak, noting only a minor boost for sales in April. Other industry reports echo the assessment with mortgage applications still falling, eroding home equity, and weak job growth -- all impacting the mortgage market.

The FDIC has filed a complaint with a California federal court against the owner of mortgage broker Amerifund Financial, Inc., seeking $1 million in damages based on civil fraud allegations. The suit alleges that the defendant, Eric Matthew Anderson, and several others submitted $2.4 million in fraudulent loans to the Downey Savings and Loan Association. The FDIC says Downey S&L later filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after incurring $1.2 million in losses directly related to the Amerifund loans.

Mortgage loan applications fell by 0.4 percent nationwide over the last week, spreading unease among lenders concerned about the potential for a dip in the housing market, according to a study released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday. The decline in loan applications coincides with the lowest rates for mortgages in the last six months and the fewest applications for home purchases in nearly 15 years. Market analysts say people are "nervous," which can preclude signing on the bottom line to buy a home.