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New Day Financial Fined $5.28 Million for Cheating on Licensing Procedures

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New Day Financial LLC has agreed to pay a $5.28 million administrative penalty for allegedly helping their employees cheat on a series of critical professional licensing exams.

The Multi-State Mortgage Committee of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors announced the consent order on Monday, revealing that the fine encompasses mortgage regulators in 43 states.

“The MMC coordinated the investigation of this matter, identifying a pattern of inappropriate conduct, and negotiated, on behalf of the participating state regulators, a resolution that will permit the company to continue to operate while ensuring compliance with all state and federal laws,” said Karyn Tierney, MMC Chairman and Deputy Commissioner of the Arkansas Securities Department. “This case demonstrates the manner by which state mortgage regulators cooperate to more efficiently and effectively supervise mortgage companies, including resolving compliance issues through a coordinated enforcement action.”

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Cash Sales Continue to Decline for 25th Consecutive Month

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For the 25th month in a row, all-cash home sale transactions have declined, falling to a 38.9 percent share of the market for January (the most recent month for which we have data).

For reference, cash sales peaked in January 2011 at a 46.5 share, though that number is close to double what we were used to seeing prior to the housing crisis.

According to CoreLogic, if cash sales continue to fall at the same rate they did in January, they will reach the “normal” rate of 25 percent in mid-2018.

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U.S. Consumer Debt at All-Time High

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According to a new report by CNBC, consumer debt in the United States is currently at an all-time high.

“The Federal Reserve says consumer credit climbed to a record high in February with a more than $15 billion gain that month, pushing the nation’s overall borrowing to a fresh overall high of $3.3 trillion,” Morgan Brennan reported on Wednesday.

Although credit card debt was on decline for February – for the second straight month – it was a big jump in auto and student loans that contributed to the higher numbers.

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Americans’ View on the Economy Reaches 8-Year High

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According to the latest CNBC All-America Economic survey, a record 27 percent of those surveyed said they currently view the economy as good or excellent. That number is the highest level we’ve seen in eight years.

In comparison, just last year, only 16 percent of respondents gave the economy good marks.

“The latest numbers show how far the public’s attitudes on the economy have come since the economic bottom but also how far there is to go,” CNBC’s Steve Liesman explains. “The level of optimism remains about 10 points below where it routinely stood before the recession.”

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March Jobs Report Leaves Much to Be Desired

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When the March jobs report was released on Friday, the news wasn’t very good.

With economists expecting nonfarm payrolls to rise by 245,000, they got a huge shock when that number was announced at just 126,000 – the worst report since December 2013.

“We were due a clunker,” John Canally, chief economic strategist at LPL Financial, told CNBC. “It’s probably the same things that are going to be impacting the earnings season in a couple weeks. It’s the strong dollar hitting manufacturing, the port strike hitting manufacturing, it’s the really awful weather…But across all sectors, it was just pretty soft.”

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JPMorgan Chase on Track to Pay $4 Billion Settlement

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JPMorgan Chase is on track to pay the $4 million it owes to homeowners as part of a settlement it reached in 2013, independent monitor Joseph Smith confirmed on Thursday.

According to Smith, Chase has already shelled out $2.2 billion, with two years remaining to pay back the final $1.8 billion.

“We are seeing steady progress from Chase,” Smith told Reuters, noting that the bank may even meet its goal ahead of schedule.

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Inventory Shortage Keeping Detroit Housing Market Down

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The financial situation in Detroit is finally showing signs of improvement. Home values in the metropolitan area are on the rise, and the city itself is out of bankruptcy.

Still, the housing market remains slow to recover, thanks to one very basic issue.

“We have a shortage of inventory still,” Jenilynn Estereicher, a Detroit-area real estate agent, told CNBC. “We don’t have enough used properties for the buyers that are here. We are seeing a lot of multiple offers in the suburbs.”

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Housing Market Looking Healthy, According to New Indicator

Nationwide revealed on Tuesday that the future of the housing market is looking more promising than ever, with little chance of a downturn over the next year.

The news comes as the insurance and financial services organization has just released its brand new housing market indicator, the Leading Index of Health Housing Markets, which is “a data-driven view of the near-term performance of housing markets based upon current health indicators for the national housing market and 373 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).”

“Unlike most other housing indices or surveys, the HoHM Report provides a look into the future instead of the rearview mirror,” said David Berson, Nationwide’s chief economist and senior vice president. “The quarterly report should serve as a resource to gauge how healthy housing markets are today but, perhaps more important, what to expect in the future and why.”

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Pending Home Sales Signal Strong Spring Housing Market

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The National Association of Realtors (NAR) confirmed on Monday that its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) is climbing toward record highs as contract signings in the Midwest and the south in February drove pending home sales to their highest level in nearly two years.

According to Mortgage News Daily, which combed through numbers, the PHSI rose 3.1 percent in February to 106.9, which is the second-highest number we’ve seen since it reached 109.4 in June 2013.

So what does it all mean?

“Pending sales showed solid gains last month, driven by a steadily-improving labor market, mortgage rates hovering around 4 percent and the likelihood of more renters looking to hedge against increasing rents,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, told MND. “These factors bode well for the prospect of an uptick in sales in coming months. However, the underlying obstacle – especially for first-time buyers – continues to be the depressed level of homes available for sale.”

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Janet Yellen Warns: Higher Interest Rates May Be Warranted Later This Year

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Although consumers continue to enjoy record low interest rates, Janet Yellen warned during her speech at the San Francisco Federal Reserve on Friday that higher rates may be necessary at some point in the not-too-distant future.

“Like most of my [Fed] colleagues, I believe that the appropriate time has not yet arrived, but I expect that conditions may warrant an increase in the federal funds rate target sometime this year,” she said. “If conditions do evolve in the manner that most of my [Fed] colleagues and I anticipate, I would expect the level of the federal funds rate to be normalized only gradually, reflecting the gradual diminution of headwinds from the financial crisis and the balance of risks I have enumerated of moving either too slowly or too quickly.”

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