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Category Archives: Housing

RealtyTrac – Nearly 1.1 Million US Properties with Foreclosure Filings in 2015

“RealtyTrac …released its Year-End 2015 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 1,083,572 U.S. properties in 2015, down 3 percent from 2014 and down 62 percent from the peak of 2,871,891 properties with foreclosure filings in 2010. The nearly 1.1 million properties… Continue Reading

Goldman Sachs to pay $1.5 billion fine in RMBS agreement

News release:  “The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. [January 14, 2016] announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to resolve the ongoing investigation of the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group of the U.S. Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (RMBS Working Group). The agreement in principle will resolve actual and potential civil claims by the… Continue Reading

U.S. Conference of Mayors Releases 22-City Survey on Hunger and Homelessness

U.S. Conference of Mayors Releases 2015 Hunger and Homelessness Survey: Press Release | Download the Report | “Sixty-six percent of the survey cities reported that the number of requests for emergency food assistance increased over the past year. Among people requesting emergency food assistance, 67 percent were persons in families, 42 percent were employed, 23… Continue Reading

GAO Reports – Drug Compounding for Animals, Troubled Asset Relief Program

Drug Compounding for Animals: FDA Could Improve Oversight with Better Information and Guidance [Reissued on January 8, 2016, GAO-15-671: Published: Sep 28, 2015. Publicly Released: Sep 28, 2015: ” Drugs compounded for animals offer certain medical benefits but also pose risks of causing harm or being ineffective. Specifically, drugs compounded for animals can serve as… Continue Reading

Minutes of Federal Open Market Committee, December 15-16, 2015

Released January 6, 2016: “The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday released the attached minutes of the Committee meeting held on December 15-16, 2015. A summary of economic projections made by Federal Reserve Board members and Reserve Bank presidents for the meeting is also included as an addendum to these… Continue Reading

GAO Report – Dodd-Frank Regulations: Impacts on Community Banks and SIFIs

Dodd-Frank Regulations: Impacts on Community Banks, Credit Unions and Systemically Important Institutions, GAO-16-169: Published: Dec 30, 2015. Publicly Released: Dec 30, 2015: “Federal financial agencies conducted required regulatory analyses for rules issued pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) and also reported required coordination. These agencies also addressed key… Continue Reading

Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration Evaluation

Mary K. Cunningham, Jennifer Biess, Dina Emam, Martha R. Burt. December 10, 2015. Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration Evaluation: “This report documents the outcomes of veterans served by the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration program (VHPD), one element of the Obama administration’s signature initiative to end veteran homelessness. It describes the housing, employment, and health of veterans… Continue Reading

Chronic Homelessness: Background, Research, and Outcomes

CRS – Chronic Homelessness: Background, Research, and Outcomes. Libby Perl, Specialist in Housing Policy. Erin Bagalman, Analyst in Health Policy. December 8, 2015. “Chronically homeless individuals are those who spend long periods of time living on the street or other places not meant for human habitation, and who have one or more disabilities, frequently including… Continue Reading

Fed – Household Net Worth Fell in Third Quarter

Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States Flow of Funds, Balance Sheets, and Integrated Macroeconomic Accounts Third Quarter 2015: “The net worth of households and nonprofits fell to $85.2 trillion during the third quarter of 2015. The value of directly and indirectly held corporate equities decreased $2.3 trillion and the value of real estate rose… Continue Reading

Emerging Trends in Real Estate – US and Canada

PWC – Emerging Trends in Real Estate – United States and Canada 2016 Emerging Trends: “Real estate has become ever more dynamic as it adapts to a networked world. Everything is connected to everything else, so market participants cannot afford to ignore developments well beyond the property markets themselves. The major forces of globalization, technology,… Continue Reading

The Federal Role in the Financing of Multifamily Rental Properties

CBO reviews the federal government’s current role in the multifamily mortgage market and four broad approaches to modifying that role. December 3, 2015. “Multifamily properties—those with five or more units—provide shelter for approximately one-third of the more than 100 million renters in the United States and account for about 14 percent of all housing units.… Continue Reading

From Education to Housing Costs, the American Community Survey Provides 10 Years of Local Statistics for Every Community Nationwide

“For 10 years, the American Community Survey has provided U.S. communities with detailed information critical for making informed decisions about their people, places and economy. Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released the latest American Community Survey five-year statistics, allowing users for the first time to compare two nonoverlapping five-year data sets: 2005-2009 and 2010-2014. Users… Continue Reading