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Initial, Continuing Unemployment Claims Fall Again

First time claims for unemployment insurance edged down by 2,000 for the week ended February 25, the Department of Labor reported today. Data for the previous week were revised upward, turning a flat report into an increase in initial claims. The revision means claims rose and did not decline during the week used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its month survey for the unemployment rate.

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AG for Hardest Hit State Outlines Homeowner Bill of Rights

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris outlined the six parts in the proposed California Homeowner Bill of Rights during a press conference on Wednesday. The first part of the bill the California AG announced was the Foreclosure Reduction Act, which will address dual tracking issues. Other requirements in the bill include a $25 levy each time servicers record a notice of default, fines against owners of blighted property from $1,000 to $5,000 per day, and a $10,000 civil penalty for ""robosigned"" documents.

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Beige Book Sees Continued Modest Improvement in Economy

Overall economic activity continued to increase at a modest to moderate pace in January and early February, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book, an anecdotal report of conditions in each of the 12 Federal Reserve districts. The report showed economic improvement varying across the country -- economic activity rose at a somewhat faster pace in the Philadelphia and Atlanta districts but growth was slower in New York. Minneapolis characterized the pace of growth as firm.

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Q4 GDP Revised Up to 3 Percent, Beating Estimates

Real gross domestic product - the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States - increased at an annual rate of 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Wednesday. In its initial report on fourth quarter GDP, the BEA had said the nation's economy grew at a 2.8 percent pace. Economists had forecast no change in the ""advance"" GDP estimate issued last month.

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FHA Raises Insurance Premiums

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has seen its capital reserves quickly dissipate over the past few years amid a growing number of mortgage defaults and payouts on insurance claims. In an effort to bolster its capital cushion, the federal agency has announced a new premium structure for FHA-insured single-family mortgage loans. FHA will increase its annual mortgage insurance premium by 0.10 percent for loans under $625,500 and by 0.35 percent for loans above that amount. Upfront premiums will also increase by 0.75 percent.

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HUD Secretary Questioned on Number of Improper Foreclosures

During a Senate subcommittee hearing, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan was prodded with questions on investigation results regarding how many and what percentage of people actually suffered from wrongful foreclosures. As far as actual numbers, Donovan said there very few folks who actually lost their homes, but emphasized that what the organization did find were very significant and very pervasive errors that have real impacts on families.

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South Carolina Signs Bill to Ban Third Party Fees on Home Sale Contracts

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill to ban Wall Street Resale Fees, which require a percentage of the sale of a home to go to a third party. Carolina is the 38th state to sign the bill banning these fees, also known as Private Transfer Fees. The fees are added to home sale contracts by private third parties and typically require that over the next 99 years, a percentage, usually 1 percent of the sale of a home, be paid to the third party.

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Real Estate Debt, Delinquencies Decline: Report

Real estate-related debts are on the decline, as are overall delinquencies, according to a quarterly report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Debt maintained through mortgages and home equity lines of credit (HELOC) declined $146 billion during the fourth quarter of last year. Mortgages made up a majority of the decline – $134 billion – while HELOCs made up the remaining $12 billion. Also in the fourth quarter, the delinquency rate on consumer debt was reduced from 10 percent to 9.8 percent.

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Fannie Mae’s First Bulk Offering of REO-to-Rental Pilot Is Open for Bids

Fannie Mae has put a block of 2,490 REOs up for sale. It's the first pilot transaction of the federal government's Real-Estate Owned (REO) Initiative announced in August 2011, which aims to sell homes repossessed by government agencies to private investors for the purpose of turning the properties into rental units. The homes up for grabs are concentrated in the hard-hit metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and parts of Florida, and 85 percent of them are already occupied by tenants.

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