The number of foreclosed homes currently on offer by Countrywide has fallen to early 2007 levels, indicating that the housing market is recovering and may be poised for a rebound.

The Federal Reserve is continuing its purchase of Fannie Mae securities as part of its temporary program to directly purchase paper from the housing finance agencies, snapping up some of the securities as soon as they are issued.

Riding a crest of rapid growth, Pro Teck Valuation Services said it will move into a new corporate headquarters with double the space by the end of the month. The company also unveiled a new logo as part of a rebranding effort.

Running at a clip of some 4,000 to 6,000 loans a day, LenderLive Network has performed at least one of its services for more than 600,000 loans under the administration's loan modification program.

Appraisal management company Solidifi, seeking to exploit what it sees as a competitive advantage against more traditional AMCs, said it is already compliant with new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) rules on appraisals that go into effect January 1.

Sterling Home Retention Services said it is beating industry averages in the government's loan modification program across all metrics finding the right party, getting financial information, extending a loan modification, and closing on the deal.

When a short sale is an option, servicers want a quick decision, even a negative one, and that has prompted one loss-mitigation specialist to have a change of heart and beef up its short sale activities.

The banking industry is scrambling to get some capital relief when new accounting rules go into effect on January 1 that will force them to put mortgage securities currently held off-balance sheet on to their balance sheets. [IMAGE] The accounting change would force banks under proposed rules to have the regulatory capital to back these added assets, so they are asking for either an initial moratorium on the capital requirements or a phase-in that will allow them to gradually build up the capital to back the new assets.

Restrictive growth management policies by urban planners were the main cause of the housing bubble that led to our current financial crisis, a conservative economist claims. Randal O'Toole, a senior fellow at the conservative Cato Institute, says in a new study that local restrictions, not national, policies, led to housing bubbles in states like California and Florida.

As lenders take a super-cautious approach to new housing loans, often setting standards higher than those required by government agencies guaranteeing the mortgages, new rules from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) may make it harder for veterans to refinance their government loans.