The Texas Mortgage Bankers Association (TMBA) announced the details of its annual Southern Secondary Market Conference to be held February 12-14. The three-day agenda was developed to offer attendees new information, guidance, trend identifications, and new, emerging strategies in secondary marketing.
Read More »RFC Promotes Branch Manager to VP of Sales
RFC Promotes Branch Manager to VP of Sales Residential Finance Corporation (RFC), an award-winning nationwide mortgage lender headquartered in Ohio and with branches around the country, announced the promotion of branch manager Joe Buxton to the position of VP of sales.
Read More »155K Jobs Added in December, Unemployment Rate Flat at 7.8%
The nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós unemployment rate remained at 7.8 percent in December as payrolls increased 155,000, slightly ahead of consensus forecasts, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 150,000, slightly higher than the 146,000 increase in payrolls originally reported for November, and that the unemployment rate would remain at November├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós 7.7 percent.
Read More »Trulia: 82 of Top 100 Metros Post 2012 Price Gains
After measuring improvements over the two years, Trulia ranked Las Vegas as the top turnaround market in 2012 based on its recovery in asking prices. Trulia also found nine out of the top 10 turnaround markets were located West and Southwest, and the top six saw double digit increases. In 2011, only 12 out of 100 metros saw price increases compared to 82 in 2012. In addition, none of the 100 largest metros saw price declines greater than 10 percent in 2012 compared to 6 in 2011.
Read More »NREIS Closing Pittsburgh Office, Laying Off 215
National Real Estate Information Services (NREIS) is shuttering the doors to its Pittsburgh office in February, according to a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice posted on the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry's website.
Read More »Veros: Housing Market in ‘Full Recovery Mode’ After Hitting Bottom
The national housing market has hit bottom and is now in full recovery mode, according to Veros Real Estate Solutions, a provider of risk management and valuation services. While there remains--as always--some variance across markets, Veros predicts prices in two-thirds of all markets across the nation will either remain flat or rise over the next 12 months. This is the first time since the recession that Veros has forecast gains (or at least no declines) for such a large proportion of markets.
Read More »Census, HUD Expand Access to Housing Survey Results
The results of the Census Bureau's and HUD's American Housing Survey are now available via Census' American FactFinder data access tool.
Read More »ALTA Publishes ‘Best Practices’ Standards for Title Insurance Industry
The American Land Title Association (ALTA), a national trade association for the land title insurance industry, released a set of Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices created to help members highlight policies and procedures used to "ensure a positive and compliant real estate settlement experience."
Read More »Northstar to Enhance Mortgage Operations Via Goldome Acquisition
Northstar Bank of Texas has announced the closure of a deal that gives the company a controlling interest in Goldome Financial, Inc. Through the acquisition, Northstar, a member of Carlile Bancshares, Inc., is set to expand its treasury management product line and mortgage division.
Read More »CFPB Raises Exemption Threshold for Disclosure Act
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it has finalized a rule adjusting the asset-size exemption threshold for banks, savings associations, and credit unions under Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Based on the adjustments, institutions with assets of $42 million or less (as of the end of 2012) are exempt from collecting HMDA data in 2013. That exemption does not apply to data institutions are supposed to report for 2012.
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