While some signs suggest the housing recovery may finally be under way, others signal that banks will likely continue to see repurchase claims from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Analysts with Fitch Ratings found in a report on Monday that repurchase risk remains high for several financial institutions, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Ally Financial. According to Fitch, repurchase risk climbed to 41 percent for Bank of America. Roughly 60 percent of the claims stemmed from private-label requests.
Read More »Obama: Road to Recovery Is Paved with Refis
As the housing market and the overall economy crawl languidly toward an elusive recovery many believe will still take years to achieve, President Barack Obama suggests the key to progress is a broad housing refinance plan. Obama endorses a bill that would allow underwater homeowners to refinance at current interest rates, which continue to wallow near historic lows. A few senators have proposed bills recently to allow more homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
Read More »Fannie Mae Sees Moderate Growth Despite Recent Gains
July├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós positive economic news did little to change Fannie Mae├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós forecast for 2012, the GSE revealed Tuesday. Fannie Mae├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Economic & Strategic Research Group issued its latest economic outlook, maintaining its expectations for modest growth in 2012. This news comes in spite of reports of strengthening retail sales and job growth in July. Fannie Mae├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Economic & Strategic Research Group issued its latest economic outlook, maintaining its expectations for modest growth in 2012.
Read More »FICO and Savvis Launch New Cloud-Based Service
FICO and Savvis are teaming up to provide a new could-based technology service for lenders. The companies have joined forces to launch FICO Debt Manager, a platform that will give users game-changing adaptive control capabilities for collection and recovery processes related to mortgages, secured and unsecured loans, and many different types of accounts.
Read More »Inc. Magazine Honors radius financial group
Massachusetts-based radius financial group inc. has been honored with a national accolade. Inc. Magazine named the mortgage bank among the country's fastest growing companies for the fourth consecutive year, ranking radius at 1,222 on the publication's annual roster of 5,000 thriving organizations to watch.
Read More »Al Capone’s Former Florida Estate Lists for $9.95M
Want to live like a kingpin? You're in luck, because according to Zillow, the Florida estate once belonging to Al Capone is on the market for $9.95 million. The legendary gangster moved into the stunning and storied house on Miami Beach's Palm Island in 1928, and he called the seaside property home before and after his imprisonment for tax evasion, living in the luxurious pad until his death in 1947.
Read More »Churchill Mortgage Takes on New Branch Manager
Churchill Mortgage announced Monday that it hired Kevin Stafford to serve as its new branch manager for the Memphis, Tennessee, branch location.
Read More »Sellers Hold Off to See If Home Prices Will Rise
After surveying more than 1,800 active home sellers, Redfin found that some of its customers are holding back from selling now because they believe patience will pay off in the form of higher offers for their home. The survey revealed that 38 percent of respondents plan to wait more than a year before selling their home, while 25 percent said they plan on selling now. About 36 percent of homeowners plan on waiting somewhere between 3 months and 12 months. More than a quarter (27 percent) of respondents said now is a bad time to sell as opposed to only 13 percent who said now is a good time to sell.
Read More »FGMC to Expand Wholesale Lending Division
Expanding its wholesale unit, First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. (FGMC) has appointed a new national wholesale sales manager. The company recently announced that Industry veteran Patricia Trimble has been hired to fill the leadership position.
Read More »RE/MAX: Is Housing Finally In Recovery Mode?
Looks like the dragon will have to step aside: 2012 is now "The Year of the Housing Recovery," according to RE/MAX. The real estate giant released its National Housing Report for August 2012 (covering July), showing that both sales and prices have posted year-over-year increases for most of 2012. Home sales appear to have peaked year-to-date in June, with July's sales falling 9.4 percent month-over-month. However, sales were up 10.3 percent from July 2011, marking the 13th consecutive month for year-over-year sales gains.
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