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

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) added 40 new metro areas to its Improving Markets Index (IMI) in its latest release yesterday, bringing to total number of cities to 76 across 31 states. Designed to track housing markets throughout

Strategic defaults, economic-speak for walking away from a distressed property, are not only on the rise but, according to some sources, an economically-feasible option for underwater homeowners. According to a survey conducted by Paola Spienza and Luigi Zingales, two

Not even a week after the Federal Reserve published an economic white paper urging government action on REOs, word has trickled out of Washington that the government, in cooperation with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is planning a pilot

Expectations for both homeowners and consumers rose in promising ways in December in the latest Fannie Mae National Housing Survey. According to a press release from the GSE, the percentage of Americans who said the economy was on the

2012 seems poised to be a year of rambunctious construction activity for builders, according to a new study by Houston-based Metrostudy. Mike Inselmann, the president of the firm, said that builders will start at least 20,000 new single-family home projects this

Residential construction employment finished 2011 in positive territory, the first time that the sector has experienced gains in six years, according to new datafrom Calculated Risk’s Bill McBride. Not since 2005, when residential construction increased by an incredible 268,000

The CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI), the influential measure of home values that is used by the Federal Reserve in its analysis, came out earlier today, showing values in November continued their winter slide. A three-month weighted average of

Freddie Mac has announced new policies for unemployed borrowers that can grant the troubled homeowners up a year in breaks from their mortgage payments. According to a HousingWire article on the policies, which go into effect Feb. 1, Freddie

The mortgage insurance tax deduction, a commonly-used feature that can save homeowners to the tune of hundreds of dollars a year, could be a thing of the past, according to a new piece by HSH. First approved by Congress

Following in the steps of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac has eliminated a major restriction to borrowers seeking to refinance with existing servicers. Beginning yesterday, borrowers now have no credit score requirement for refinancing, as long as they have at

Richard Cordray, the former Attorney General of Ohio, was officially sworn in as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a long-awaited appointment that had been stalled by Congressional stonewalling. The question for real estate professionals, though, is

April 1 is the set datefor when the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee fees will rise by 10 basis points as the primary funding method for the government’s recently-passed payroll tax cut extension, and Lenders One, a

On December 21, as the year winded down and everyone began anticipating the holidays, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) quietly released a 14 percent downward revisionto its existing-home sales, reversing data going back to 2007. Though the association

As nearly every one in Houston knows by now, high-rises are not particularly popular with the Bayou City’s residents, and a new wave of developments inside the 610 Loop seem to have bared that in mind. As reported by Clifford Pugh