HousingWire

Correspondent lending showing signs of life

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:28:40 +0000

Correspondent lending is proving it still has a heartbeat former Alt-A heavyweight Impac re-enters the space in an effort to grab business that larger commercial banks have recently decided they won't handle.

Carrington hedge fund, American Home settle 3-year REO battle

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:28:40 +0000

Hedge fund Carrington Capital Management and American Home Mortgage Servicing agreed to settle a 2009 suit over potential conflicts of interest in modifying mortgages before protecting the bondholders.

HUD awards $1.8B to improve, preserve country's public housing stock

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:42:57 +0000

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded nearly $1.8 billion to public housing authorities to make improvements in their housing stock.

House keeps GSE bonus ban, mortgage disclosures in STOCK Act

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:30:07 +0000

Mortgage-related measures in a congressional insider-trading bill stayed on track to become law, despite debate on other parts of the act.

Nevada strikes separate $780 million settlement with BofA

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:27:23 +0000

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto struck a separate deal with Bank of America in conjunction with the $25 billion foreclosure settlement this week.

Construction job cuts account for one-third of 4Q mass layoffs

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:34:48 +0000

Mass layoffs in the fourth quarter of 2011 declined to their lowest level in six years, but construction jobs still took a big hit on the end of seasonal hiring, the government said Friday.

Lack of lending to creditworthy borrowers restricting housing: Bernanke

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:28:49 +0000

Mortgage originators who are reluctant to extend credit to potential borrowers who meet underwriting standards set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are hindering the nation's economic turnaround.

Fannie defends ending pilot principal-reduction program

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:23:50 +0000

A small, pilot principal-reduction program Fannie Mae started and killed in 2010 was not performing well enough for executives to expand, the mortgage giant claims.

Loss-severity rate on conduit loans more than 60% on 1998 vintage

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:54:16 +0000

The loss-severity rate on 1998 vintage commercial mortgage-backed securities loans outpaced other vintage classes of CMBS, with the 1998 class recording $289 million in realized losses on an initial loan balance of $474 million, Trepp said Friday.

Consumer sentiment down for first time since August

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:27:52 +0000

Consumer sentiment fell in a preliminary reading for February after it reached an 11-month high in January.

Three California real estate investors to plead guilty to bid rigging

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:23:39 +0000

Three Northern California real estate investors agreed to plead guilty to forming a conspiracy to rig bids at foreclosure auctions, the Department of Justice Financial Fraud Enforcement Division said Thursday.

Gallup poll shows economy still top worry for most Americans

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:36:35 +0000

Most Americans are dissatisfied with the economy and with the way things are going in Washington, but a certain amount of mild optimism started to emerge late last year, according to a new Gallup survey.

Multistate AG settlement unfairly punishes investors: Amherst

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:49:07 +0000

The $26 billion settlement between government officials and the five largest mortgage servicers will exacerbate servicer conflict of interest by allowing the banks to use investor dollars to foot the bill, according to analysts at Amherst Securities Group.

Ohio AG to use $75 million of foreclosure settlement for demolitions

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:38:33 +0000

A hefty $75 million slice of Ohio's mortgage settlement will go toward demolishing vacant homes in a state hit hard by the housing crisis.

Mortgage industry eagerly ends robo-signing saga

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:15:41 +0000

Where one investigation ends another begins. Representatives from mortgage banks, trade groups and organizations expressed relief throughout the day Thursday as the settlement with state attorneys general and federal prosecutors finally arrived.

Senate bill gives principal write-downs through shared-appreciation plan

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:37:19 +0000

A proposed bill from Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., would allow underwater borrowers to reduce their loan principal through a federal shared-mortgage-appreciation program.

Q&A: Oklahoma AG goes his own way on robo-signing settlement

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:52:00 +0000

When the robo-signing settlement negotiations finally ended and officials took their turn at the different podiums Thursday, one man was noticeably absent.

REO auctions commonplace in commercial real estate

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:44:56 +0000

Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta is likely heading to liquidation via an REO auction in a move that is becoming commonplace as the commercial real estate market continues to struggle.

Economists tout principal reductions, refinancings in Senate hearing

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:26:33 +0000

Economists testified before the Senate Banking Committee that the Federal Housing Finance Agency must step up its role to help homeowners, which could stabilize the housing market in the process.

Home affordability reaches record heights, Midwest leads way

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:22:33 +0000

Stronger job creation from the Dakotas and Nebraska to Oklahoma and Texas is translating into stable home price trends and, in turn, record home affordability.

Miami, Fort Lauderdale home prices rise in 4Q

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:48:29 +0000

Home prices in South Florida jumped in the fourth quarter as international buyers and investors nabbed affordable inventory.