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early registration now open Feature ALFNANSWERS.ORG IT'S TIME TO GET SOME. JULY 21-24 THE BROADMOOR COLORADO SPRINGS, CO said about the city's underlying economic conditions that are so dependent on the auto industry." As far as recent data goes, Detroit posted a 13.1 percent annual price growth in FNC's February Residential Price Index—not bad, compared to the other markets tracked. On a monthly basis, its performance was shakier: a 0.1 percent drop. So, what does the city's recovery look like? "That will have a lot to do with the economy, the auto industry, and manufacturing jobs coming back to the city," Mayer said. "I don't see a quick, quick comeback of Detroit." THE 11TH ANNUAL ALFN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ∂ Las Vegas, Nevada H THE MORTGAGE SERVICING & REGULATORY COMPLIANCE EVENT OF THE YEAR presented by THE AMERICAN LEGAL & FINANCIAL NETWORK (ALFN) ANSWERS is an ALFN member event that is open to all ALFN members and mortgage servicers. If you are not a servicer or current ALFN member, you may request an invitation or application at ALFNANSWERS.org EARLY REGISTRATION & SERVICER SCHOLARSHIPS CLOSE JUNE 21 ALFNANSWERS.ORG 34 | The M Report "The recovery has strengthened this year. The acceleration of home prices continues to accelerate. But looking out further from this year is difficult," he said. ∂ Washington, D.C. T he nation's capital ranks "somewhere in the middle" in terms of how much damage it took when the bubble burst, according to Dosaj at LPS. The company's February price index has Washington, D.C., at about $354,000, up 5.4 percent year-overyear and about 20.7 percent below its peak of $446,000 in May 2006. "Washington, D.C., didn't suffer the same dramatic fallout that places like Phoenix, Las Vegas, and some parts of L.A. did, but it did suffer a drop, and it's recovering from that now," Dosaj said. So far, the going seems slow but steady— prices improved 1.4 percent from January to February this year—and the district's index line has been steady compared to other markets since the crash. As for the future, Dosaj is unsure. ome prices in Sin City rose about 128 percent in the run-up to the crash and fell about 45.2 percent in the following years, according to FNC. The company's price index for February 2013 saw Vegas improving 14.5 percent compared to the year before; however, the city's index is still 5.6 percent below its January 2000 level, so there's some ground to make up. How much ground? That depends on your definition of the market's "normal" pace, FNC's Mayer remarked. "Is 'normal' something the market experienced in, say, 2005 or 2006? If that's the understanding of normal, then I'm going to say it might take another housing bubble to get there," Mayer said. Assuming "normal" means having a steady foundation of sustainable growth and sound lending, the goal might not be so far away. "What's happening now, a lot of observers are thinking it's another housing bubble. The market has come back, inventory is low, and a lot of investors are in the market and they just scoop up all the inventory," she said. "But given [that] credit is becoming more available and there's more leverage in the market . . . I think what's going on in Vegas is going to continue." "What's happening now, a lot of observers are thinking it's another housing bubble." — Yanling Mayer, FNC, Inc.