Government

While the worst of the foreclosure crisis appears to be over, foreclosures led to the loss of $192.6 billion in wealth for Americans in 2012, according a report from the Alliance for a Just Society, national coalition of eight state-based grassroots community organizations. On average, the estimated loss in wealth last year comes out to about $1,700 per household for 114.7 million households in the nation, according to the coalition. The report also suggested the crisis is not yet over.

The ""juice"" that will fuel the economic recovery is housing, or more specifically, new home sales, according to Freddie Mac's economic and housing market outlook report for May. As the building of new homes adds to the availability of jobs, the unemployment rate should inch down. ""Based on historical correlations, every additional 100 thousand housing units started brings down the unemployment rate for construction workers by about three-fourths of a percentage point,"" the report stated. For 2013, Freddie Mac forecasts housing starts will increase by 200,000 units.

The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling that upheld Fannie Mae's ejectment action judgment against defaulting borrowers whose homes were lost to foreclosure, MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. announced in a release.

According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.51 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending May 16, a significant climb from last week, when it averaged 3.42 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed averaged 3.79 percent and falling. According to Bankrate's weekly national survey, the benchmark 30-year fixed rate climbed to 3.71 percent, an increase of 11 basis points.

Among California homeowners encountering foreclosure, those with higher loan amounts tended to hold on to their homes longer than those with lower loan amounts, according to ForeclosureRadar. The firm determined a difference in foreclosure timelines of 270 days between loans of less than $417,000 and loans of more than $550,000. ""Perhaps the difference lies in the fact that more affluent homeowners have the means to tap into resources to help delay foreclosure, or that larger loans on expensive homes are more complex and take longer to disentangle,"" ForeclosureRadar explained.

First time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended May 11 rose 32,000 to, 360,000, the highest level since the end of March, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected initial claims to increase to 330,000. First time jobless claims for the week ended May were revised up to 328,000 from the originally reported 323,000.

In sharp contrast to reports of improving builder confidence, housing starts plunged at the steepest rate in more than two years in April, falling to a five-month low even as housing permits surged, the Census Bureau and HUD reported jointly Thursday. The 16.5 percent month-to-month drop in starts to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 853,000 caught economists by surprise. The consensus forecast had been starts would fall--but to 969,000 from March's originally reported 1,036,000.

FDIC announced Tuesday the closure of Central Arizona Bank (Scottsdale) by the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions. To protect depositors of the failed bank, FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Western State Bank (Devils Lake, North Dakota).

From January through March, servicers implemented 244,933 loan modifications, according to HOPE NOW. At the same time, 83,394 borrowers avoided foreclosure through the short sale process. This brings the combined total for loan modifications and short sales to 328,327 for the first quarter. Meanwhile, HOPE NOW data showed foreclosure sales fell 14 percent to 161,641. Although foreclosure sales were down, foreclosure starts increased 30 percent in the first quarter to about 472,000.

Two men who allegedly operated online foreclosure rescue businesses pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced in a statement. According to the statement, Mark S. Farhood of San Diego and Jason S. Sant of Lecanto, Florida co-owned Home Advocate Trustees, which also went by several other names. Farhood and Sant claimed their businesses purchased distressed real estate to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.