A study released by Clear Capital Thursday reveals home prices continue to correct from winter's extended declines, edging up on the increase in sales activity that comes with warmer weather. But even recent gains off the record low experienced earlier this year have not been enough to change the broader housing picture, Clear Capital says. Its latest reading of national home prices shows an annual decline of 7.9 percent, with only a handful of markets in the Northeast bucking the trend.

Stewart Lender Services has developed a boutique REO asset management and disposition solution for community banks. The company says its approach can be sized for each individual lender and is designed to maximize the value of the bank's assets in the shortest amount of time. One key to achieving those results, Stewart says, is starting as early in the process as possible, in the pre-foreclosure stage. That combined with accurately valuing the asset and securing the title from the onset can shave weeks off the disposition cycle.

DecisionReady Solutions, a California-based provider of default servicing compliance solutions, has announced the appointment of Matthew Lichtner to the position of executive vice president, director of national sales and client relations. Lichtner has over two decades of sales experience in the mortgage industry working for companies such as First American Corporation and Stewart Title Company.

Despite a declining share of REO and short sales, and a seasonal increase in non-distressed sales, CoreLogic says home prices in June came in 6.8 percent below June 2010. Even with fewer distressed properties changing hands, short sale and REO transactions are weighing heavy on the overall market numbers. CoreLogic's data show that when distressed sales are excluded from the equation, the year-over-year price decline narrows to 1.1 percent. On a monthly basis, CoreLogic reports that home prices edged up 0.7 percent from May to June.

In its own private negotiations with state attorneys general and officials at HUD and the U.S. Justice Department, Bank of America is reportedly bringing principal reductions to the bargaining table. BofA and four other mortgage servicers have been in discussions with state and federal officials to settle investigations into foreclosure practices involving faulty paperwork and illegal affidavits, but talks have stalled. To move things along, BofA has put forth its own proposal for principal write-downs in exchange for liability protections.

Safeguard Properties, one of the largest privately held mortgage field services companies in the country, has announced four new appointments to its executive and management teams. Scott Wilson has been named to the newly created position of VP of property preservation. Amitha Rao now serves as director of enterprise information management. Dennis Hoye has taken on the role of corporate controller, and Adam Szczesniak has been appointed director of infrastructure services.

The commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market had been abuzz with positive momentum and murmurings of recovery for the better part of this year, but Trepp says that has all but vanished within the past few weeks. The research firm reported Tuesday that its latest monthly CMBS delinquency reading surpassed the previous record. In July, the delinquency rate for U.S. commercial real estate loans in CMBS shot up 51 basis points to 9.88 percent, as spreads widened and a highly publicized new issue was pulled from the market.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) filed a lawsuit last week in a New York federal court against UBS Americas, Inc. for violations of federal securities laws related to UBS' sale of $4.5 billion in private-label residential mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The lawsuit alleges that UBS Americas made material misstatements and omissions about the mortgage loans underlying the bonds. Fannie and Freddie claim they have already lost in excess of 20 percent of their entire investment.

Axis Appraisal Management Solutions announced Monday that it has appointed Ron Simmons, SRA, as its chief appraiser and director of valuation services. Simmons brings to Axis a range of experience in the appraisal and technology business fields. He operated an appraisal practice for well over a decade and is a certified residential appraiser in the Northern California area.

Econohomes, an online source for wholesale investment properties based out of Austin, Texas, is now offering fully renovated residential properties to its REO inventory. Econohomes says its renovated offerings fit the bill for owner-occupiers who don't want to have to deal with repairs and for investors looking for a home they can quickly rent out to generate positive cash flow. The company is actively exploring ways to expand its supply of renovated homes.