National News

Keeping it in the Family with Multigenerational Housing

With home prices falling, and financing and appraisals in a precarious position, the renting market is often mentioned as a rising form of real estate. New data out of the Pew Research Center, though, highlights a remarkable upward trend

App Review: Mortgage Calculator Pro

Price: $0.99 How it Works: The Mortgage Calculator Pro, one of the top 10 finance apps for 2010, is a quick and easy calculator designed for brokers, Realtors and homebuyers. Optimized for iOS 4 and Retina Display, Calculator Pro

Mortgage Rates Rise with Jobs Report

In a shocking development, mortgage rates have risen in the last week, riding on the minor optimism from the latest job reports coming out of Washington. After two solid months of declines, culminating in last week’s drop of the 30-year

App review: Home Value Pro (iPhone only)

Price: Free How it Works: Home Value Pro touts itself as an on-the-go, user-friendly way to access a wealth of statistics on residential real estate in the country. Features include home values estimates for virtually every U.S. home, housing

Amidst Precarious Times, NAR Reaffirms MID Support

National Association of Realtors (NAR) President Ron Phipps recently reaffirmed his organization’s support of the mortgage interest tax deduction (MID), a long-accepted cornerstone of the home buying process that, regardless of its several decades of popularity, is threatened by

HUD Suspends Former Lend America President

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has suspended Michael Primeau, former President of Lend America, from doing any business with HUD following his admission that he engaged in a wide-scale mortgage fraud scheme. “We take this

Fed Lays CRA/GSE Blame Game to Waste in New Report

The financial crisis may have occurred in the fall of 2008, but that has not stopped economists and policy analysts from continuing to offer their perspectives on what ultimately caused the greatest monetary scare since the bank failures of

Mortgage Fee Standards on Supreme Court’s Horizon

The Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear a case on mortgage fees that will have sweeping implications on how “unearned” mortgage fees are prosecuted in the courts. The case pits Louisiana homebuyers against Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. The homebuyers

Occupy Chicago Inhabits MBA Conference

What was supposed to be a routine gathering on technology is fast becoming a hotbed for democratic activity, as the Take Back Chicago street protests have targeted the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) conference taking place this week. A coalition

The Help: Housing Style

More than 50 representatives of grassroots and national housing advocacy organizations engaged in a three-hour roundtable discussion on housing with government officials on Monday for “America’s Housing Crisis: Solutions to the Changing Landscape.” Hosted Ocwen Financial Corporation, the event featured

Homeowners Bummed in New Fannie Mae Survey

Homeowners expressed some fears and anxieties on housing and the general economy in the latest Fannie Mae National Housing Survey. The survey’s biggest takeaway came in home prices, which Americans expect to decline by 1.1 percent during the next 12

Census Bureau Data Emphasizes Housing’s Resiliency

The Census Bureau just released its massive tomb on housing data from 2000 to 2010, and as expected, the “Housing Characteristics” brief is a sweeping, detailed analysis of housing, offering both good and bad information on the embattled market.

The Ghost of Countrywide’s Past Haunts BofA

In an ironic twist, Bank of America (BofA) is closing 40 mortgage offices and firing hundreds of workers at a time when mortgage interest rates are setting record lows. The firings come in the wake of recent news from

Construction Builds a Bright Spot for Sept. Jobs Report

According to the most recent jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor, the economy added 103,000 jobs in September, and though markets reacted to the data in a lukewarm fashion, a true bright spot in the department’s findings

Reviewing the Refinancing Relish

Mortgage rates have been on a steady decline the last couple months, and thanks to recent monetary action by the Federal Reserve, they hit all-time lows late last week, with the 30-year FRM shattering the 4 percent barrier and

The Term “FHA” is Only Visible in Less Than 2 Percent of Listings

Being FHA-insured is a big advantage in this housing market, but it seems most agents aren’t making that fact visible to consumers. There are about 14 percent of FHA properties in the MLS listings. However, only 1.8 percent of

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