While some local housing markets are sinking fast, many will post production gains of up to 10% or more this year over last, according to a Harvard economist who says the sector is going through a long-expected correction."The bubble is not bursting," said Kent Colton, senior scholar at Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, at the Midwinter Conference in Park City, Utah. "There will be no body bag nationally." Mr. Colton, a former executive vice president of the National Association of Home Builders, said the markets that will do well in 2007 will be those that never became overheated. The biggest gainers will be Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, he said. And Georgia, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington will be close behind. Markets that reached unsustainable heights over the last few years -- California, Florida, and Washington, to name a few -- are likely to feel the most pain, he said. Mr. Colton said the overall housing market is going through a much-needed correction. Between 2002 and 2005, he said, the sector was propelled by unprecedented annual gains in eight important benchmarks -- the ownership rate, new- and existing-home sales, new- and existing-home prices, single- and multi-family starts, and residential fixed investment. "This is something I suspect we will never see again," the Harvard scholar said. "We couldn't keep running at this level. A correction was necessary."
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The lender recorded a $59 million net loss in the fourth quarter, an 83% improvement from its third quarter performance.
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Initial analyses of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data show UWM ahead in 2023 loan numbers and dollar volume, but Rocket's market share still looks competitive.
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Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.
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The pending end of the program comes as over half of U.S. states have already ceased accepting new applicants for federal aid aimed to help struggling households with mortgage payments.
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But the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is still near 7%, and that remains the overhang on the housing market, Freddie Mac said.
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Mortgage payments rose 10% year-over-year to an all-time high for March, Redfin said.
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