Archive for July, 2009
Friday, July 17th, 2009
A housing construction report indicated higher levels of activity than the range of forecasts, but that had more to do with revisions to the previous month than a rebound in activity. The actual monthly gain was modest.
Housing starts ― new construction of private homes ― gained a 3.6% in June, ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
MGIC Investment Corp., a major provider of Private Mortgage Insurance, announced nearly $340 million in losses for the second quarter. The company also revealed plans to shift a major part of its operations to a subsidiary in order to comply with capital requirements....(read more)
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
According to Freddie Mac's weekly survey, mortgage rates drifted down for the third consecutive week although they remain well above the record lows established this spring. Fannie Mae's weekly yields also dropped for the week.
...(read more)
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
The Federal Reserve today reported on their weekly purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS). In the five trading days between July 9 and July 15, the Federal Reserve purchased a gross total of $22.980 billion agency MBS. During this period the Federal Reserve sold $810 million agency MBS, which brought ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Stocks were trading lower in the first hour of trading on Thursday but relative to the 6.1% gain seen in the first three days of the week, the sell-off is pretty minor. By 11 am, indexes had mostly recovered from the morning’s mixed news.
After 90 minutes of trading, the S&P ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
As the unemployment rate approaches double-digits, almost two million homes received foreclosure filings in the first half of 2009, 15% more than in the same period for 2008, and 9% more than in the previous six month period, according to a new industry survey.
RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Freddie Mac made several "Best Practices" recommendations for selecting appraisers and reviewing their products. One of these contained the statement that Freddie does not require appraisers to use Real Estate Owned, foreclosures or short sales in selecting comparable sales but rather that appraisers must "certify that comparable sales chosen ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
If the first hour of trading is any guide, markets will see their third day of gains this week following two weeks of declines. And stocks aren’t just up ― they’re soaring. Just before 11am, the Nasdaq is up 2.44% to 1844, its highest reading since July 1.
...(read more)
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
A major drop in mortgage rates helped demand for loans move up yet again, including a surge of refinance activity.
The Market Composite Index ― a weekly survey of mortgage applications conducted for almost 20 years ― climbed 4.3% in the week ending July 10, according to the Mortgage Bankers ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
The main events of the morning were soaring producer prices, a better-than-expected retail sales report (driven, however, by fuel costs), slipping business inventories, and record profits from Goldman Sachs in the second quarter.
Market reaction to the mixed news has been volatile in the first 90 minutes of trading. Stocks ...
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »