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On Wednesday, Freddie Mac released some good news for individuals and families living in some of the country’s most popular metro markets.

According to the mortgage company, the U.S. housing market is continuing to stabilize nationwide, and nearly 80 percent of the top 100 housing markets in the country – including Portland, San Jose and Nashville, among others – are steadily improving.

“The West and Southwest areas of the country are showing some of the strongest housing activity, especially markets like Portland, Denver, Dallas, San Jose and Los Angeles,” said Feddie Mac deputy chief economist Len Kiefer. “Many markets in the South and Midwest, while improving, are still plagued by high rates of mortgage delinquencies, which are holding back these markets from recovering faster. The exception to this would be the Nashville-area market. It more closely resembles the housing markets in the West, such as those in Utah. These markets are experiencing double-digit annual growth rates in purchase applications and showing some of the strongest homebuying demand in the country.”

Image via flickr/Michael Silberstein

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According to a new report published by Fannie Mae late last week, the housing market in the United States is currently faring better than the economy as a whole.

Although the GDP grew by just 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015, the housing market did a bit better, with March existing home sales at their highest level in two years.

Still, the numbers call for cautious optimism. As Mortgage News Daily points out, “Even though March sales were up, the first quarter fell short of fourth quarter 2014 numbers. New home sales retreated in March but the first quarter overall was the best for that sector since 2008 and pending home sales and purchase mortgage applications both portend a strong spring buying season.”

Image via flickr/Simon Cunningham

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Builders are starting to see more first-time homebuyers entering the new home market, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. revealed in a conference in New York City on Wednesday.

According to The Wall Street Journal, just over 15 percent of new homes were sold to first-time homebuyers in 2014, but so far this year, that number is up closer to 20 percent.

“We do see this as an expanding market,” said Meritage chief executive Steven Hilton. “We saw strong demand in that segment in the last quarter and even more so over the last two months.”

Image via flickr/Oregon Husky

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In an attempt to avoid a cash crisis, Ocwen Financial Corp. disclosed on Monday that it is currently negotiating with lenders to extend and refinance some of its debt.

If the company is unable to change some of its debt arrangements – particularly ones that are set to amortize this year – it could face a liquidity crunch.

“Due to the significant level of cash requirements related to servicing advances, we may not have sufficient levels of liquidity to fund the operations without our advance financing facilities,” Ocwen said in the filing.

Image via flickr/woodleywonderworks

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