Federal Reserve: Findings Released from Study of Small Business Owners’ Perspectives on Online Lenders and Products
The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland on Thursday published Browsing to Borrow: “Mom & Pop” Small Business Perspectives on Online Lenders. The report examines small business owners’ perceptions of online lenders and their understanding and interpretation of the information that online lenders use to describe their credit products. Among the…
FHFA: Index Shows Mortgage Rates Increased in May 2018
Nationally, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages increased from April to May, according to several indices of new mortgage contracts. The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 4.57 percent for loans closed in late May, up 6 basis points from 4.51 percent in April. The…
CFPB: Measuring a Child’s Progress on the Building Blocks of Financial Capability
Developing financial capability during youth is an important stepping stone on the path to adult financial well-being. Financially capable individuals have healthy money habits, stick to plans, and apply their knowledge and skills to successfully complete financial tasks. Financial capability is developed over time and is marked by milestones on the path to financial well-being….
FHFA: House Price Index Up 0.1 Percent in April 2018
U.S. house prices rose in April, up 0.1 percent from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) seasonally adjusted monthly House Price Index (HPI). The previously reported 0.1 percent increase in March was revised upward to 0.2 percent. The FHFA monthly HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages…
FHFA: Foreclosure Preventions Top 4.1 Million In 2018 First Quarter
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released its first quarter 2018 Foreclosure Prevention Report, which shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) completed 68,378 foreclosure prevention actions in the first quarter of 2018, bringing the total number of foreclosure prevention actions to 4,108,636. The Enterprises’ serious delinquency rate dropped to 1.1 percent…
ABA: Bank Economists See Robust Economy Pushing Unemployment Rate to New Lows
This year the U.S. economy will enjoy its strongest growth this cycle, pushing unemployment to the lowest rate in nearly half a century, according to the Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association. The consensus of 16 chief economists from among the largest North American banks is that the economy, entering a tenth year…
FEDS Notes: Where’s the Money Going? The Importance of Accounting for Rent Payments in Measuring a Household’s Financial Obligations
Andrew C. Chang, Joanne W. Hsu, Sarah J. Pack, and Michael G. Palumbo 1 According to the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), in 2016 about 12 percent of American families’ monthly income was needed to cover payments associated with the various types of debt they owed–mostly mortgages, car loans, student loans, and…
Census Bureau: New 2017 Annual Business Survey Announced
The Annual Business Survey (ABS) is a new joint project between the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. The ABS is a new survey that replaces three existing surveys: the five-year Survey of Business Owners (SBO) for employer businesses, the Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE), and the Business Research and Development and…
HUD and Census Bureau: Residential Construction Activity Report in May 2018
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for May 2018. Building Permits: Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,301,000. This is 4.6 percent (±1.4 percent) below the revised…
OCC: Mortgage Performance Unchanged in First Quarter 2018
Performance of first-lien mortgages remained unchanged during the first quarter of 2018 compared with a year earlier, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) quarterly report on mortgages. The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, First Quarter 2018, showed 95.6 percent of mortgages included in the report were current and performing at the…