Pending Home Sales Jump 21.1 Percent
Home sales
The National Association of Realtors just reported the pending home sales index rose a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in March, and was up 21.1% compared with a year earlier.
For March sales contracts rose 12.7% in the South, 1.9% in the West and 1.2% in the Midwest. Contracts declined 3.3% in the Northeast.
Home Mortgage Fraud Jumps
The Mortgage Asset Research Institute in a recent report showed that incidents of mortgage fraud and misrepresentation by professionals in the mortgage industry in the U.S. increased 7 percent from 2008 to 2009. The pace has slowed since the 2007-2008 increase of 26 percent.
Florida, ranked number one in the country for mortgage fraud and misrepresentation, followed by Rhode Island. Rounding out the top 10 list were: New York, California, Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois, and Virginia. Rhode Island was not included in the top 10 list because the state’s sample size did not meet the minimum requirements set for the survey.