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MuniNet Medley: 1/12/12 - MSRB Outreach, Inflation Indictors, Housing Wealth and College, Foreclosure Trends

Municipal bond market professionals and investors:  take note as you put together your 2012 calendar.  The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) may soon be holding education and outreach events in a city near you ... beginning with a seminar in Dallas in February.  The events will highlight the MSRB’s operating objectives and rulemaking efforts for the year.  The MSRB will be hosting similar events in Chicago (April) and San Francisco (July) ... 

To learn more about other upcoming conferences for municipal bond professionals and state and local government leaders, see MuniNet Guide’s Conference Guide 

... The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta will be releasing a monthly report on business inflation expectations, which will be based on a survey of a panel representing 300 companies in its region.  The first report is scheduled for release on January 27.  This survey is one component of the Federal Reserve Bank’s Inflation Project, which includes a dashboard of key inflation measures and related data ...

... The housing boom and bust - and resulting gains and losses in home equity - have had a direct impact on college enrollment and graduation rates, according to a recent report released by the Economic Mobility Project of the Charitable Trusts.  The study, entitled “Housing Wealth and Higher Education: Building a Foundation for Economic Mobility,” was based on an economic model that isolated family wealth as a factor affecting college choices.  Because housing has a greater effect on household wealth in lower and middle income families, fluctuations in home equity have impacted these populations in particular ... 

 ... Foreclosure activity was at its lowest level in 2011 since 2007, according to a Washington Post article based on data from RealtyTrac.  This trend may be partly attributed to issues with documentation and other legal matters, prompting a slowdown in the processing of foreclosures by many large banks, according to the article ...

... RealtyTrac reports that the top five foreclosure cities in December 2011 were Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Phoenix.  On a national basis, the number of foreclosures sold and the number of new foreclosures both declines compared to the previous month, while the average sale price of a foreclosed property rose by more than 8.5 percent.