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Affordable Financial Services’ Weekly Finance Review

Pending home sales rose 2.0% in December, says the National Association of REALTORS. It was the fifth increase in the past six months. The NAR says its pending home sales index rose to 93.7 from a downwardly revised 91.9 in November. However, the index is still 4.2% below the figures from December 2009. (Pending home …

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Affordable Financial Services’ Weekly Finance Review

The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales in December jumped 12.3% from the previous month. The NAR recently reported a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.28 million units in December, compared to the upwardly revised figure of 4.70 million units in November. However, the December 2010 figures are 2.9% below the December 2009 figure …

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Affordable Financial Services Weekly Finance Review

The National Association of Realtors recently reported that existing home sales in November rose 5.6% from the previous month. The NAR reported a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.68 million units in November, compared to the seasonally adjusted figure of 4.43 million units in October. However, the November 2010 figures are 27.9% below the November 2009 …

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Affordable Financial Services Weekly Finance Review

Bloomberg recently reported that U.S. banks will close 5,000 branches in the next 18 months as they face falling profits, decreased loan demand and lower fee revenue. Analyst Meredith Whitney, formerly of Oppenheimer & Co., said banks are facing an “uphill battle” to generate loan growth as consumers reduce debt; in addition, banks will collect …

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Affordable Financial Services Weekly Finance Review

The National Association of REALTORS recently announced that pending home sales fell during the month of September, snapping a two-month streak of gains. Pending home sales reflect the number of sales going into contract; it does not reflect the number of closings. The index of sales agreements in September was 80.9, down 1.8% from August’s …

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Citigroup Anticipates More Mortgage Buybacks

TheStreet.com reported yesterday that Citigroup saw its mortgage repurchase reserves jump by 30% in the third quarter of this year, foreseeing an increase in repurchase requests by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

According to TheStreet.com, Citigroup had $952 million in reserves for Q3 2010 —more than three times the amount the bank had reserved during the …

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Affordable Financial Services Weekly Finance Review

Fannie Mae announced on Friday that its Housing and Community Development division will now be called Multifamily Mortgage Business, or Multifamily. According to its press release, the new name parallels the government-sponsored entity’s Single-Family Mortgage Business, more clearly conveys what the business does and emphasizes the multifamily mortgage business platform.

The Associated Press reported on Friday …

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Affordable Financial Services Weekly Finance Review

The National Association of Realtors recently reported that existing home sales in August were up 7.6% from the previous month. The NAR reported a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.13 million units in August, compared to the upwardly revised figure of 3.84 million units in July. However, last month’s figures were off by 19%, compared to …

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Affordable Financial Services Weekly Finance Review

Mortgage rates are at record lows, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Interest on 30-year fixed loans fell from 4.54% last week to 4.49% this week. This week’s 15-year mortgage rate is 3.95%, down from 4% last week. Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages are at a new low of 3.63%, compared to 3.76% a week ago. One-year …

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Affordable Financial Services Weekly Finance Review

Reuters reported today that Fannie Mae’s gross mortgage portfolio grew 6.3% in June over the previous month. Last month, the government-owned lender’s portfolio grew by $4.1 billion to $817.8 billion, which has gone up 12.1% since the beginning of the year. The portfolio growth could be attributed to a drop in May’s mortgage delinquency rate. …

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