More Americans interviewed by Fannie Mae for its national housing survey are optimistic about their financial prospects and the housing market in the coming year. Most respondents believe home prices will edge up at least 0.8 percent over the

As we look back at 2011 and forward to 2012, it makes sense to plan out the year according to the rhythms of the industry. Year over year, it seems that the busiest months for each phase of the

By Bill McBride Construction employment increased by 17 thousand jobs in December, and is now down 2.18 million jobs from the peak in April 2006. Total construction employment increased by 46 thousand jobs in 2011. This was the first

Recently named in the 60 Genius Brands to watch list, real estate search site Trulia.com has compiled data regarding its growth since its 2006 launch, and presented it graphically, showing strength particularly in Florida and California. On the graphs

What were the results of CoreLogic’s latest HPI? Is the government finally unveiling a plan for its REO inventory? And how many Keller Williams offices did Coldwell Banker acquire?  Here’s a quick rundown of stats from this week’s news (Jan. 9 –

A number of legislators in the House of Representatives are hoping that what worked for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will work at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Twenty-eight congressmen, led by Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat from California, have

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Wednesday released details on how its examiners will asses the inherent risk of subprime loans products offered by both private banks and mortgage lenders. Richard Cordray, the newly-appointed director of the CFPB, said in a

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) announced the addition of its eighth multiple listing service (MLS) along with the MRED web-based implementation of Fannie Mae’s Short Sale Assistance Desk (SSAD). MRED’s Division of Special Projects with Director Chris Lambrou as

The latest foreclosure data from RealtyTrac would appear to be promising: the 205,000 foreclosures in December were the lowest monthly total since November 2007, the 1.8 million foreclosures for all of 2011 were a 35 percent decline from 2010

Fifth Third Bank has named James Currie its new assistant vice president and mortgage loan

A sale is expected to close today of four Keller Williams Chicago offices to New Jersey-based Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. The Keller Williams offices are located in Lincoln Square, Lincoln Park, the Gold Coast and the West Loop, and

During the various budget crises of 2011, numerous federal programs were threatened with substantial cuts if not complete annihilation in the name of deficit reduction, and one of the more controversial suggestions involved alterations to the popular mortgage interest tax deduction

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) is investigating the mortgage insurance practices of PHH Corp., specifically if the company violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, a regulatory framework the CFPB enacted on July 21, 2011. According to a HousingWire article,

The FHFA, according to recent interviews, is considering changes to how the CEOs at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are compensated, and are even surveying the salaries of other government employees in the process. Long a source of controversy,

New data from the federal government on mortgage originations suggests that, as previously predicted by scores of analysts and financiers, the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, will fall short of its modification goals when the program was launched

HARP 2.0, the official name given to the Home Affordable Refinance Program after a series of revisions in October, has been a factor in the housing market for more than four months now, and some analysts are predicting its