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Author Archives: Esther Cho

East Coast REO to Rebrand as Compass Property Services

East Coast REO and its affiliates will be joining the Compass Group of companies, according to a company announcement. Starting July 15, East Coast's real estate services companies will be rebranded under the Compass Property Services name as part of a long-planned reorganization.

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GSEs Refinance Nearly 107K Loans Under HARP in April

In April alone, nearly 107,000 loans were refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), up from 99,000 in March, according to data FHFA. April's figure raises the total since the program's 2009 inception to 2.56 million. The program also continued to help a large share of underwater borrowers. From January to April, 44 percent of GSE borrowers who refinanced under the program had loan-to-value ratios greater than 105 percent.

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Report: Rent Growth Picks Up in Q2

Over the last year, rents for new leases grew at an annual pace of 3.1 percent following a slowdown in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of this year, annual rents were up by just 2.6 percent, marking the weakest growth since late 2010, according to MPF Research. At the same time, the national apartment occupancy rate also moved higher, increasing to 95.3 percent from 94.9 percent in previous quarter.

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Delinquencies See Biggest Year-to-Date Drop Since 2002

Delinquencies saw the steepest year-to-date drop since 2002 in May as new problem loan rates inched toward pre-crisis lows, according to Lender Processing Services' (LPS) Mortgage Monitor report released Monday. Since the end of December 2012, the delinquency rate has fallen by more than 15 percent to 6.08 percent in May. ""In large part, this is due to the continuing decline in new problem loans -- as fewer problem loans are coming into the system, the existing inventories are working their way through the pipeline,"" he added. LPS also reported the national equity rate is at 14.7 percent, which translates into 7.3 million loans and represents a 47 percent annual decrease.

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First-Time Buyers Have Smaller Budget, Interest in Foreclosures

First-time buyers might have more of a reason to seek out discounted properties since they are working with a smaller budget, according to a blog from Doorsteps.com. On average, first-time homebuyers spend $154,100 on a home, which is $65,900 less than repeat buyers, who spend an average of $220,000.

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City of Las Vegas Contributes $100K for Nevada Homeowner Program

The city of Las Vegas partnered with Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto in addressing the state's housing crisis by contributing $100,000 for a homeowner relief program initiated by the attorney general. The contribution came from the city's HUD grant funds and will be used to increase awareness of Home Again.

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Florida Cities Top List of ‘Hot Spots’ for Retiring, Investing

Although Florida is often recognized for its high foreclosure rate, the state also holds a handful of cities that are ""retirement hot spots"" due to their real estate opportunities, according to RealtyTrac. On Thursday, RealtyTrac released a list of the top 15 markets for retiring. In order to be considered, at least one-third of the population in the markets had to be aged 65 or older. Out of the top 15 markets, seven were in Florida.

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Asking Home Prices Show Impressive Gain in June, Rents Pick Up

Asking home prices took off in June, soaring 10.7 percent year-over-year, Trulia reported Wednesday. Month-over-month, asking prices inched up by 1.5 percent and rose 4.1 percent on a quarterly basis. Rents rose at a slower pace of 2.8 percent year-over-year, though it was still the biggest increase since January. Trulia also tracked the 100 largest metro areas and revealed 99 markets experienced an increase in asking prices over the last year.

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