U.S. Housing Market Commentary

Posted by Megan Hopkins on 4/3/13 at 3:01pm

Former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, joined Promontory Financial Group as a managing director and chairman of its governance and markets practice this week. 

The transition makes Schapiro the latest former high-profile regulator to find a home in the private sector.

While Schapiro's move is not all that unusual for a former regulatory insider, it comes at a time when there is a general wariness...

Investments
Posted by Megan Hopkins on 4/3/13 at 10:24am

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and fellow AG Eric Schneiderman out of New York bashed FHFA leader Ed DeMarco in a Politico article Tuesday. The gist of their opinion piece is they want DeMarco to get the boot.

The two AGs said they don’t have anything personally against the acting director of the FHFA, but...

Servicing
Posted by Kerri Ann Panchuk on 4/2/13 at 2:43pm

In the past few years, investment bankers have heard very little good news about their ulcer-inducing, high-stakes industry.

But all the bad news is not slowing down a new breed of ambitious young women, who reportedly are looking for careers in investment banking … at least in European nations.

Sarah Butcher with eFinancialCareers has an ...

Investments
Posted by Megan Hopkins on 4/2/13 at 10:26am

It seems the transition is complete. In a recent survey by Redfin, 82% of agents described now as a "good time to sell," while only 57% described now as "a good time to buy."

Let’s back up to the third quarter of 2012, when 54% of the agents polled considered it a good time to sell, but 75% called it a good time to buy.

This complete ‘180’ in the housing markets can only be backed by...

Real Estate
Posted by Jim Carr on 4/1/13 at 4:35pm

If you’ve been following HousingWire REwired over the course of the past few weeks, you may be familiar with the growing debate between James Carr with the Center for American Progress and Peter Wallison with the American Enterprise Institute.

If you missed it, here’s a recap: Wallison suggested to Congress that...

Lending
Posted by Kerri Ann Panchuk on 4/1/13 at 8:29am

With so many rules, it must be hard for regulators and financial firms to keep things straight, which is why a good compliance person is becoming worth every penny spent on their salaries and the boxes of coffee that must be acquired to keep them awake during the day.

My favorite take on the subject comes this week from the Rob Chrisman report. Everyone knows compliance is a hot topic right now, and if you can help mortgage servicers and lenders comply with all the new rules, you're...

Servicing
Posted by Paul Jackson on 3/31/13 at 9:34am

Today at HW, we're pleased to announce two new tools available on the site. We've come to learn that many readers rely on us for market data: so we're starting out by offering two new data services that represent a very small start towards meeting this demand.

The first is a really neat neighborhood data tool that lets you drill into data on specific neighborhoods across the U.S., or based on your...

Investments
Posted by Kerri Ann Panchuk on 3/29/13 at 7:42am

The latest from Rob Chrisman's Mortgage Daily News:

Want to see how many complaints your competitor is receiving? The CFPB is here for you! Actually, the complaint site is meant to help consumers. Proponents call it wonderful; critics say it is just another step toward Big Brother running society. Regardless of your take, here is how to find the list of consumer complaints...

Servicing
Posted by Troy Freedman on 3/28/13 at 1:24pm

During the course of foreclosures when parties are discussing or attempting loss mitigation, borrowers submit financial records for lenders and servicers to review. 

Sometimes, these records show a borrower’s financial condition to be unhealthy – not due to hardship like loss of job, reduction in income, divorce, medical bills, or funeral expenses – but due to uncontrolled, undisciplined, and/or unnecessary personal discretionary spending.

Review of some financial records...

Servicing
Posted by Peter Wallison on 3/28/13 at 11:27am

Peter Wallison with the American Enterprise Institute took time this past week to defend his positions on housing after Jim Carr with the Center for American Progress publicly challenged Mr. Wallison’s opinion on the ‘misleading’ influence of housing groups prior to the 2008 financial crisis.

HousingWire initially reported on Mr. Wallison’s statements to lawmakers earlier this month. In that testimony, he suggested housing advocates' influence on...

Lending