Daily Archives: July 11, 2014

Housing recovery continues to make progress | Chappaqua Real Estate

 

The housing recovery is continuing to trend in a positive direction, but more work needs to be done to help the economy fully recover, the Obama administration said in its June housing scorecard, which is a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market prepared by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

June’s housing scorecard echoes the sentiments of the last two housing scorecards. In May, the administration cited overall positive trends in the housing market, but cautioned that the harsh winter slowed growth while the economy continues to recover from the Great Recession.

In April, the administration also noted the tough winter as a challenge to the year’s housing performance.

June’s scorecard identifies growing equity and a rebound in the sale of new and existing homes as positive trends.

“The June Housing Scorecard shows the housing market continues to make progress as we move into the summer months,” said HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research Katherine O’Regan. “Sales of new and existing homes are up, equity continues to grow, and foreclosures starts continue trending down. While these are all signs of a healthy recovery, given the severity of the housing crisis, we must stay committed to helping homeowners.”

 

 

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Scorecard: Housing recovery continues to make progress

Future of housing in question | Armonk Real Estate

 

The housing industry remains guarded as second-quarter earnings are estimated to trend down slightly for most U.S. banks, presenting a questionable future for the market.

Kroll Bond Rating Agency released its Q2 2014 Bank Earnings Preview, which cautioned that there will be persistent challenges in areas such as mortgage finance, capital markets and net interest margins for the next several years.

And banks will feel the weight of that, Kroll said.

“Over the next several years, we believe that the business models of large banks will be changing significantly as the importance of mortgage lending and servicing declines relative to other activities. Indeed, among U.S. depository institutions, credit unions are the only sector currently increasing their exposure to the mortgage market,” the report said.

Volatility in market interest rates and a lackluster economy spurred a difficult first quarter, and the second half of the year won’t be much better as “a lack of visibility as to the future direction of interest rates will be a reoccurring theme for banks and markets during the rest of 2014.”

The first bank to release its earnings will be mortgage giant Wells Fargo (WFC) on Friday morning.

While the bank is the market-share leader in the origination and servicing of 1-4 family mortgage loans, Kroll cautioned, “Given the decline in mortgage lending volumes experienced by WFC and other large banks, as well as the zero-rate policy of the FOMC, it may be difficult for the bank to deliver positive revenue growth in 2014 and beyond.”

During the first-quarter of 2014, Wells Fargo reported record net income of $5.9 billion, up 14%, or $1.05 per diluted common share, around expectations.

 

 

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Future of housing in question amid 2Q14 earnings release