Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have both been critical issues when it comes to the housing crisis. The government wanted these agencies to create equal housing opportunities, and these agencies provided the mechanism for…
New housing starts in July rose to an annual seasonally adjusted rate of 746,000, a drop of 1.1% from the revised June rate of 754,000 and a gain of 21.5% above the July 2011…
Positive signals continue to issue forth for US home builders. The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo housing market index rose 2 points in August, to 37, the highest index reading since February 2007.…
Rising home prices in U.S. metropolitan areas pushed down the second-quarter affordability index, according to the latest data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo housing opportunity index. Some 73.8% of new…
The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reported second-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $1.01 and $20.57 billion in revenues before markets opened this morning. In the same period a year ago, the home improvement…
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports this morning that mortgage loans at least one month past due rose by 18 basis points in the second quarter of 2012 to 7.58% of all loans outstanding.…
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is the bank that we said has replaced J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) as the safest of the money-center banks in America now. Wells Fargo just…
Foreclosure starts increased for the third month in a row in July, according to industry research group RealtyTrac. The firm reported: U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for July 2012, which shows foreclosure filings — default…
The housing crash that began in late 2006 resulted in trillions of dollars in lost wealth and millions of families owing more on their mortgage than their houses are worth. But while the economic…
MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) has found another set of problems on Wednesday, but a third (or fourth) set of problems could be coming its way if things get any worse. Earnings last week…
There has been a lot of investment buying of foreclosed and distressed US houses, and one of the questions that always comes up is how an essentially local business can be managed on a…
Yesterday came the news that Freddie Mac posted a quarterly profit and that the mortgage giant would not need to tap any Treasury capital. Now we are getting the same sort of report from…
The Mortgage Bankers Association released its weekly report on mortgage applications this morning, noting a 1.8% decline in the group’s composite index compared with last week’s total. Applications for refinancing fell 2% (seasonally adjusted),…
Freddie Mac has reported its earnings, but most investors are out of the name now. At this point, it and cousin Fannie Mae, just remain sore topics for Main Street and for Wall St.…
Home improvement giant Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) announced this morning that it has reached a definitive merger agreement with U.S. Home Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: USHS). Home Depot will acquire the kitchen and bath…