HousingWire

Senators craft extended mortgage relief for military

Fri, 25 May 2012 19:44:41 +0000

Five Democratic senators introduced a bill expanding mortgage and foreclosure protections for military families.

BofA and Barclays sell remaining interest in Archstone

Fri, 25 May 2012 19:00:02 +0000

Bank of America and Barclays Bank will sell their remaining 26.5% interest in Archstone, operator and developer of multifamily apartment properties, to Lehman Brothers Holdings.

Phoenix housing market lights up like 'a switch suddenly turned on'

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:20:53 +0000

Phoenix homebuilders are seeing the light, so to speak, with sales trending upward for the past six months, a new report from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods claims.

Bank attorneys prep for RMBS working group showdowns

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:20:36 +0000

"It will be from the lender all the way up the chain. They are asking where the problems were from the very beginning, from the lender to the aggregator, on up to the securitizer. The whole process is going to get looked at," said Rich Andreano, a partner at the D.C. firm Ballard Spahr.

Consumer sentiment reaches post-recession high

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:28:18 +0000

Consumer sentiment rose in May to its highest level since October 2007, despite a tough month on Wall Street and worsening conditions in Europe.

Freddie Mac mortgage portfolio decreases 14.1%

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:11:00 +0000

Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio declined at an annualized rate of 14.1% in April, the GSE's latest monthly summary report said.

Supreme Court favors Quicken Loans in RESPA fee-splitting case

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:41:55 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Quicken Loans, holding that the lender could charge loan discount fees under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act when no actual fee-splitting was involved.

NY Mortgage Trust issues stock to buy Fannie, Freddie bonds

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:00:12 +0000

New York Mortgage Trust is offering four million shares of common stock as part of its investment strategy to acquire agency residential mortgage-backed securities.

Fed releases Ally foreclosure review plan

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:04:10 +0000

The Federal Reserve released a plan between Ally Financial and third party consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers, hired to conduct the independent foreclosure review. The plan reveals where "high risks" of borrower remediation lie.

U.S. district judge keeps Dallas DA's MERS case alive

Thu, 24 May 2012 18:21:18 +0000

The original lawsuit was filed last September and eventually was reclassified as a class-action suit so neighboring counties could sign onto the action. A judge dismissed five of 12 claims in the case.

Federal RMBS fraud task force reaches out to whistleblowers

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:13:05 +0000

The federal RMBS fraud task force grew the number of its subpoenas to 25. It opened a website for whistleblowers and brought on board a coordinator for all investigative groups, but no action has been taken, yet.

Senate Republicans may be on board with more HARP expansions

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:40:58 +0000

Democrats want to expand HARP yet again, and Senate Republicans showed some support in a hearing Thursday. "I'm open to this. I hope that we'll have a real mark-up on this bill," said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

Another billion-dollar MBS lawsuit targets big banks

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:10:17 +0000

RMBS investors hit Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and other big banks with a $1.8 bilion RMBS lawsuit in a New York courtroom.

FDIC-insured institutions on the mend, report says

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:54:14 +0000

This is the 11th consecutive quarter that earnings have registered a year-over-year increase. However, loan balances declined by $56.3 billion, or 0.8%, after three consecutive quarterly increases.

MBA: Mortgage originations will outpace 2011

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:48:56 +0000

Because of increased refinance applications and originations, the Mortgage Bankers Association rose its mortgage origination forecast for 2012 by $188 million to $1.28 trillion.

Record low mortgage rates hold steady

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:56:59 +0000

Fixed-rate mortgages held steady from the prior week’s record lows, helping to drive homebuyer affordability across the nation.

Commercial real estate price recovery slows

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:05:10 +0000

Jobless claims fall by 2,000 to 370,000 filings

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:47:43 +0000

The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance fell by 2,000 to 370,000 filings for the week ending May 19, the government said Thursday.

Fitch downgrades Bear Stearns securities on CMBS losses

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:32:02 +0000

Losses stemming from a major industrial property and multifamily complex encouraged Fitch Ratings to downgrade 10 classes of securities within the Bear Stearns Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust (2004-PWR4.A).

Multifamily only unit to generate profit for GSEs since 2008

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:45:50 +0000

The only profits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac generated since entering conservatorship in 2008 came from financing multifamily mortgages, according to a new report.

Zillow: Nearly one-third of mortgaged homes underwater

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:10:58 +0000

The real estate data provider, in its first negative equity report, said 15.7 million, or 31.4%, of homeowners were underwater on their mortgages in the first quarter.