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Author Archives: Carrie Bay

Carrie Bay is a freelance writer for DS News and its sister publication MReport. She served as online editor for DSNews.com from 2008 through 2011. Prior to joining DS News and the Five Star organization, she managed public relations, marketing, and media relations initiatives for several B2B companies in the financial services, technology, and telecommunications industries. She also wrote for retail and nonprofit organizations upon graduating from Texas A&M University with degrees in journalism and English.

Foreclosure Risk Lessens as Borrowers Regain Equity

A new industry report shows 69 percent of all homes in foreclosure are underwater, and nearly half are deeply underwater, meaning the borrower owes at least 25 percent more on the mortgage than the home is currently worth. Those numbers may sound pretty big, but negative equity has been steadily declining, giving millions of homeowners a lifeline to avoid foreclosure should they encounter a trigger event.

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Compass Real Estate Services Welcomes New EVP

Compass Real Estate Services, a subsidiary of Compass Property Services, announced the appointment of industry veteran J. Glenn Hollis as EVP and regional manager. Compass Real Estate Services is an exclusive cooperative of brokers, providing real estate services to institutional and consumer clients throughout the Southeast United States.

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FHFA Directs Fannie and Freddie to Delay Changes to G-Fees

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Wednesday that it has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to delay implementation of planned changes to the companies' guarantee fee (g-fee) structure. Plans to increase the GSEs' g-fees were announced in early December by acting director Edward DeMarco. The changes were scheduled to take effect in March and April.

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Regulator Reports Improving Loan Performance for 4th Straight Quarter

The performance of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national and federal savings banks continued to improve in the third quarter of 2013, reports the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The regulator's latest report indicates strengthening economic conditions, mortgage servicing transfers, home retention efforts, and home forfeiture actions are all contributing to improved performance of banks' residential mortgage assets.

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DhanInfo Expands to Meet Increased Demand from U.S. Clients

The information technology company Dhandhania Infotech (DhanInfo) is expanding its business process outsourcing (BPO) operations to meet growing demand from U.S. customers for its real estate- and mortgage-related services. The India-based company assists corporations with staff-centric tasks such as property preservation data entry, real estate virtual assistants, and search engine optimization for Internet marketing.

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FHFA Recovers Nearly $8B from Banking Institutions in 2013

As conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), recovered nearly $8 billion on behalf of taxpayers in 2013 through settlements with financial institutions. FHFA sued 18 financial institutions in 2011 alleging violations of the federal Securities Act of 1933 and in some cases, fraud, related to sales of private-label mortgage securities to Fannie and Freddie between 2005 and 2007.

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NewOak Welcomes Original Exec Back as Head of Business Development

NewOak announced the appointment of Neil McPherson as head of business development. McPherson, who was part of the original business development team when NewOak launched in 2008, returns to the firm with responsibility for coordinating NewOak's client development efforts across all its business lines.

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Market Analysts Expect Slowdown in Housing Recovery in 2014

Housing Recovery

The housing market recovery is entering a new phase, according to the analysts at Capital Economics. They say the rapid bounce in home prices seen this year, which was driven by investors and tight supply conditions, will soon start to moderate, and the next stage of the recovery will be characterized by strengthening activity among owner-occupants and mortgage-dependent buyers, as well as a much more moderate pace of house price inflation.

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Jobs, Population Growth, Low Prices Create Investment Opportunities

single-family rental

Analysts at HomeVestors and Local Market Monitor say the formula for a nearly risk-free single-family investment opportunity is one part job growth and one part population growth, mixed with relatively low home prices. The fourth quarter report put out jointly by the two companies aggregates the 10 best and worst major markets for investing in single-family homes as rentals.

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Which Hidden Gems Make Cut as Year’s Hottest Neighborhoods?

Redfin has come out with its annual list of the country's hottest neighborhoods for the coming year. The company ranked 105 neighborhoods across 21 major markets that have grown the most in popularity during the four months leading into 2014. At the top of the list is the Bernal Heights North Slope neighborhood in San Francisco, California.

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