Today’s News Synopsis:

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 2.5% increase in mortgage applications from last week.  Existing-home sales also increased last month for the third month in a row by 0.7% to 5.61 million.  Of all home sales that occurred in September, 31.7% of them were cash sales.

In The News:

Mortgage Bankers Association – “Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey” (12-21-16)

“Mortgage applications increased 2.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 16, 2016.”

National Association of Realtors – “Existing-Home Sales Forge Ahead in November” (12-21-16)

“A big surge in the Northeast and a smaller gain in the South pushed existing-home sales up in November for the third consecutive month, according to the National Association of Realtors.”

Hollywood Reporter – “L.A.’s Top 10 Real Estate Sales in 2016” (12-21-16)

“Even if — as many experts anticipate —2016 goes down in history as the high water mark for the current boom in Los Angeles’ luxury real estate market, it will have been one heckuva run. It’s been five years of scorching-hot growth for L.A.’s residential market and things have barely cooled with the median home price on track to increase seven percent in 2016 over the previous year.”

Business Wire – “Real Estate Outlook Declines on Election Uncertainty and Heightened Expectations” (12-21-16)

“First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF), a leading global provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions, today released the First American’s proprietary Real Estate Sentiment Index (RESI) for the fourth quarter of 2016.”

CoreLogic – “Cash and Distressed Sales Update: September 2016” (12-21-16)

“Cash sales accounted for 31.7 percent of total home sales in September 2016, down 1.3 percentage points year over year from September 2015.”

CBC Money Watch – “Goldman Sachs tried to rig swaps market” (12-21-16)

“Goldman Sachs (GS) has been ordered to pay $120 million to settle federal regulators’ charges that it deliberately manipulated a global benchmark for interest-rate swaps to its advantage.”

DS News – “The Mortgage Collaborative Sees $150 Billion in Origination Growth” (12-21-16)

“The Mortgage Collaborative, a mortgage cooperative headquartered in San Diego, California, has released its year-end data. The data revealed that there was a progressive amount of growth in 2016, and the recent hirings and partnerships resulted in the company’s origination volume increasing to $150 billion.”

Housing Wire – “Senate to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin: Where do you stand on major housing issues?” (12-21-16)

“Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called on Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin to answer a handful of in-depth questions to get clarity on where he truly stands on key housing issues.”