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THE LATEST ANALYTICS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 61 to growth for mid- and top-tier homes, with the top-tier segment at a pricing point of $347,000 or higher. The South saw home values increase by 1.2 percent on a quarterly basis, doubling from the previous month's gain of 0.6 percent, while growing 0.9 percent yearly. The Northeast shared the same average, with the national level at 0.4 percent quarter-over-quarter, and increased 1.6 percent year-over- year. The Midwest, on the other Bernanke Tackles S guidelines for fiscal policymakers. First, "the federal budget must peaking before the Joint Economic Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered three be put on a sustainable long-run path," he said, adding the current path is likely to lead to "reduced rates of capital formation, slower economic growth, and increased foreign indebtedness" or worse, "a fiscal crisis" of "severe conse- quences." Second, Bernanke advised poli- cymakers to "avoid unnecessarily impending the current economic recovery." He warned that severe- ly tightening fiscal policy—which is set to occur at the beginning of next year—would "pose a signifi- cant threat to recovery." Lastly, Bernanke called on Bernanke, is seeing a meager recovery that is reliant on fiscal policy to continue. However, several factors are still negatively impacting recovery, including consumer outlook, the housing market, and concerns about the eurozone. Real gross domestic product The economy, according to rose to an annualized rate of 3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year but slowed to 2 percent in the first quarter of this year. While last quarter's growth hand, moved in the opposite direction, declining by 2 percent quarter-over-quarter and descending even more on a yearly basis at 3.1 percent. On a national level, REO-only Tightening Fiscal Policy Speaking to lawmakers, the Fed chief comments on the economic impact of the country's changing fiscal plans. reported an 8.2 percent unem- ployment rate in May. Bernanke suggests the previ- ous uptick in job growth may have been the result of "catch- up" hiring as employers began to replace some of the staff they laid off after the recession began. "If so, the deceleration in em- ployment in recent months may indicate this catch-up has largely been completed," Bernanke stated. Bernanke cited tight lending was slower, it was largely driven by domestic demand, which made up for decreased government spending in the quarter. Payroll employment was look- Congress to "promote a stronger economy in the medium and long term through the careful design of tax policies and spending programs." 62 | THE M REPORT ing up for the first quarter of this year with 225,000 jobs added each month. However, while this is higher than last year's average of 150,000 new jobs per month, the rate fell substantially in April and May to 75,000 per month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics standards preventing potential homeowners from entering the market and a rash of vacant homes deteriorating prices and warding of new construction as the major obstacles in the hous- ing market. "However, a few encouraging prices grew by 8.1 percent over the last year on a median price- per-square-foot basis. Among the four regions, the Midwest was the only one to see REO-only prices decline on a yearly basis. Clear Capital explained that gains in REO prices are helping market prices, but the extent to which prices are influenced depends on REO saturation, or the portion of REO sales relative to total sales. In the Northeast, REO saturation is only 10 percent, and in this region, REO prices have gained more than 20 percent. Overall, the yearly gain was only 1.6 percent due to low REO saturation. The metro areas with the highest increase in prices on a quarterly basis were Phoenix (9.4 percent); Seattle (9 percent); Dayton, Ohio (8.3 percent); Washington, D.C. (5.1 percent); and San Jose (5.1 percent). The metro areas with the signs in housing have appeared recently, including some pickup in sales and construction, im- provements in homebuilder sen- timent, and apparent stabilization of home prices in some areas," according to Bernanke. smallest gains on a quarterly basis were Detroit (-10.4 percent), Houston (-5.9 percent), Milwaukee (-5.2 percent), Memphis (-4.3 percent), and Honolulu (-3.8 percent). Clear Capital is a provider of data and solutions for real estate asset valuation and risk assessment for large financial services companies. SECONDARY MARKET ANALYTICS SERVICING ORIGINATION