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Business Outlook Archive
(MCT)—The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wants to shrink the seized housing-finance giants gradually and create a new market for mortgage-backed securities to help the private sector.
The recommendations came in a new strategic plan for Fannie and Freddie submitted to lawmakers Tuesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has overseen the companies since they were put into government conservatorship in 2008 to avoid their failure.
Fannie and Freddie have almost single-handedly kept the housing finance market afloat in recent years.
According to recent data, investors are becoming an increasingly important part of real estate’s recovery. But is that a good thing? This month’s Power Broker Roundtable, brought to you by the National Association of REALTORS®,
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco recently sent to Congress a strategic plan for the next phase of the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises).
The plan builds on the Acting Director’s February 2010 letter to Congress on the conservatorships and sets forth objectives and steps FHFA is taking or will take to meet FHFA’s obligations as conservator. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into conservatorships Sept. 6, 2008 and have since received more than $180 billion in taxpayer support.
The 2012 outlook is improving modestly from a disappointing 2011. Economic growth picked up in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 2.8 percent and is expected to come in at 2.3 percent for 2012, up from 1.6 percent growth for all of last year, according to Fannie Mae’s (FNMA/OTC) Economic & Strategic Research Group. However, the year-end growth rate was due largely to a positive swing in business inventory growth, which is not indicative of underlying consumer demand or the overall health of the economy. Nevertheless, consumer spending improved modestly and manufacturing and services activity expanded at a strong pace.
(MCT)—Residential contractors are hoping that tight-fisted consumers will decide they need a new bathroom.
Or maybe it’s time for those old kitchen counters to go.
Perhaps it would be better to add another bedroom than move?
After three years of slumping business, builders anticipate that the home remodeling and improvement sector will pick up in 2012.
Posting your video on YouTube is only the beginning if you want it to attract a serious following. The real secret is to leverage it with other forms of social media to grow your audience.
In the fourth quarter of 2011, fixed-rate loans accounted for more than 95 percent of refinance loans, based on the Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) Quarterly Product Transition Report released recently. Refinancing borrowers clearly preferred fixed-rate loans,
The RE/MAX of New England January Monthly Housing Report shows that year-over-year, the number of unit sales in every state in New England, except Vermont, is slightly higher than January 2011. New Hampshire and Rhode Island experienced the highest change in units
Home builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes increased for the fifth consecutive month in February, rising from 25 to 29 on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. It is the highest level the index has reached in more than four years.
“Builder confidence has doubled since September as measured by the HMI,” says NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “Given the recent improvements in new home starts and the increasing number of markets included in the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index, this consistency suggests that the housing market is moving toward more sustainable growth.”
Mortgage applications decreased 1.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 10, 2012.
A record breaking, mild winter has kick started the real estate market much earlier this year than the usual spring start. Mild temperatures are encouraging buyers to begin their search now, and smart sellers are taking advantage of this by pricing
The Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) rehabilitation loan program, commonly known as 203(k), can be a valuable tool to help deal with the REO problems faced by communities across the nation. The program works by providing the buyer with funding to purchase a property and rehabilitate it through one program. Essentially, one borrows money that exceeds the purchase price based on the agreement that certain improvements will be made that will add to the value of the property. For example, one buys a house with a price of $100,000 and agrees to make $40,000 in improvements.
Housing affordability conditions improved in most metropolitan areas from softer existing-home prices and record-low mortgage interest rates in the fourth quarter, with rising sales and lower inventory creating more balanced conditions,
Last month, I outlined the reasons why you should get back on the short sales bandwagon if you’ve fallen off. In the current market, more and more lenders are coming around to the realization that short sales are a favorable option after all and,
At PCMS Consulting, we believe in pushing our clients to be proactive. We help them target business practices that are outmoded and ineffective. This is how we make our living, so it is critical that we take our own advice.
