Data and information management

When the financial crisis obliterated South Florida's housing market, the number of foreclosures in Miami skyrocketed.

Once defined by the size of its foreclosure offerings, the Myrtle Beach, S.C., area real estate market now outperforms both state and national real estate markets in the current rate of foreclosures and the percentage point drop in foreclosures over the past year.

Lending standards loosened slightly in January, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

RealtyTrac says that nearly 84% of all homes in Horry County, S.C., could qualify for one or more of seven down payment assistance programs that will help homebuyers in households with up to a $76,020 annual income to buy a home worth as much as $271,050.

Homeowners who refinanced their mortgages last year should have some extra coin in their pockets this year: $5 billion worth of saved interest in the first 12 months.

Mortgage rates declined, remaining at the lowest levels in more than 20 months.

New-home construction was sluggish in Palm Beach County last year with builders breaking ground on 2,132 new homes, a meager 3% gain from 2013.

Orange County home prices ended 2014 up 3.8%, the smallest annual appreciation rate in three years due in part to a decline in investor speculation.

Mortgage applications were higher during the last week of January as interest rates fell to lows last seen in May 2013.

During last year's fourth quarter, commercial and multifamily loan originations increased by 11% from the same time a year before, a new report by the Mortgage Bankers Association says.

The sale of real estate owned properties generated greater returns than short sales in December, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Home prices were up 5% in December from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic.

Home sales in Southern California's San Fernando Valley tanked in 2014, falling 7 percent from a year earlier to a record low in response to rising prices and scant inventory.

The Greenwich, Conn., Town Assessor's office booked paperwork for 40 residential real estate closings last month, with a median sale price of $1.3 million, down significantly from last January's median closing price of $2 million.

Borrowers with lower credit scores accounted for a greater share of loan volume in December 2014 than they did in December 2012, according to a sample of mortgages processed by the Ellie Mae loan origination system.

While Rhode Island's real estate market made gains in 2014, the aftereffects of the foreclosure crisis continue to hold the housing market back from a more robust recovery.

D.C. is one of the only jurisdictions in the country to guarantee tenants the right to band together and purchase a building before the landlord can offer it to an outside buyer.

The number of foreclosure cases initiated against Hawaii property owners fell last year for the first time in four years.

Stability is gradually returning to the housing market following the foreclosure crisis, according to Freddie Mac.

Contracts to purchase previously owned homes unexpectedly fell in December by the most in a year, a sign the industry’s recovery remains uneven.