Mortgage giant Fannie Mae released the findings of its second-quarter financial report earlier today, highlighting its net income, loan volumes and, naturally, its continuing health in the recovering mortgage markets. Overall, the GSE reported a net income of $5.1

By Peter Ricci The National Association of Realtors completed the long-anticipated merger of its virtual Realtors Federal Credit Union (FCU) with the Northwest Federal Credit Union on August 1, effectively opening to its members a new range of financial

By Stephanie Sims Home mortgage rates are hovering near a record low. And home prices are still lower than a few years ago. But that doesn’t mean Texans are getting a break when it comes to some of the

By Peter Ricci National home prices increased 2.5 percent year-over-year in CoreLogic’s Home Price Index (HPI) for June, marking the fourth consecutive month of yearly gains for the index. In addition, the index, which is used by the Federal

When it comes to the  housing market and the real estate industry, few things could be more clear – the two are among the most important contributors to economic growth. Indeed, the amount of economic activity involved in a

The housing vacancy rate is among the most important measures of the real estate recovery. After all, excess supply was one of the big side effects of the housing boom, as the preponderance of vacant homes wrecked havoc on property

By Peter Ricci In case you haven’t noticed, it’s hot outside – quite hot, in fact! All throughout the Midwest, temperatures have been raging (they hit 107 in Evansville, Indiana in June), and they’ve made the home searching process

The $25 billion mortgage settlement received quite a bit of press when the documents were signed back in February, and for good reason. Encompassing several states attorneys general and the largest financial institutions in the country, the settlement was

Marci Sepulveda and Anne Hartnett, the founders and publishers of Agent Publishing, appeared on Tastytrade’s “Bootstrapping in America” program for an in-depth interview on their professional experiences, the founding of Agent Publishing, and, of course, the current state of

In a new strategy to generate buzz among consumers and Realtors, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has launched a wide-ranging email campaign on homeownership. According to a description of the campaign on NAR’s website, the campaign began last

By Peter Ricci In an effort to better mobilize Realtors for the coming elections in November, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has formed the Realtor Party, a group that aims to forgo party politics in the name of

By Peter Ricci Mortgage complains reigned supreme in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) semi-annual report to Congress, comprising 43 percent of the 55,300 complaints the agency received from consumers in its first 11 months of existence. The make-up of

Marci Sepulveda and Anne Hartnett, the founders and publishers of Agent Publishing, appeared on Tastytrade’s “Bootstrapping in America” program for an in-depth interview on their professional experiences, the founding of Agent Publishing, and, of course, the current state of

The shadow knows – that his inventory is severely down! According to researchers at Morgan Stanley, the shadow inventory has fallen 35 percent from its 2010 peak, yet more evidence of stabilizing inventories in housing. The researchers estimate there

National home prices in rose by 2.2 percent from April to May in the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Indices from Standard & Poor’s, with 17 of the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed seeing their annual returns increase. Though S&P does not

Standard & Poor’s will release its latest Case-Shiller Home Price Indices tomorrow, and analysts and journalists alike are eagerly awaiting its findings – and what they will suggest for housing prices across the country. So far, the narrative has