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Author Archives: Esther Cho

Life After Case-Shiller Report: Projecting Trends

While the Case-Shiller indexes reported new lows for house prices for the end of 2011, responses from analysts are mixed when determining what the data means for home values in the long run. Experts representing Capital Economics, IHS Global Insight, and Standard and Poor’s assessed the implications of the data for the future. While Capital Economics believes the decline may come to an end after a few more months, others are expecting this trend to continue into 2012.

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HUD Secretary Questioned on Number of Improper Foreclosures

During a Senate subcommittee hearing, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan was prodded with questions on investigation results regarding how many and what percentage of people actually suffered from wrongful foreclosures. As far as actual numbers, Donovan said there very few folks who actually lost their homes, but emphasized that what the organization did find were very significant and very pervasive errors that have real impacts on families.

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South Carolina Signs Bill to Ban Third Party Fees on Home Sale Contracts

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill to ban Wall Street Resale Fees, which require a percentage of the sale of a home to go to a third party. Carolina is the 38th state to sign the bill banning these fees, also known as Private Transfer Fees. The fees are added to home sale contracts by private third parties and typically require that over the next 99 years, a percentage, usually 1 percent of the sale of a home, be paid to the third party.

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NAREB to Combine Efforts with FGMC for New Program

First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. will join forces with the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) to participate in the newly introduced, nationwide effort called the Homeowner's Assurance Program (HAP). HAP was created by NAREB, a trade group formed in 1947 by African American real estate professionals, to help re-stabilize urban communities impacted by the housing market crises.

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Gateway Mortgage Announces New Chief Credit and Compliance Officer

Gateway Mortgage Group, a privately held mortgage company providing conventional, FHA and VA loans nationwide, announced the appointment of a new chief credit and compliance officer. With more than 25 years of senior level management experience, Molly Reed Davis holds the title and will be responsible for overseeing all compliance policies and procedures and managing credit relationships for the company.

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Delinquency Levels Down in Q4, but Still Not at Historical Levels

Real estate debt and delinquencies are on a continuing decline, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. Mortgage and home equity lines of credit (HELOC) balances fell at a combined $146 billion, with $134 billion from mortgages and $12 billion from HELOC, which are, respectively, 11 percent and 11.

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AGA Seeks to Overturn Fed Ruling

The American Guild of Appraisers (AGA) petitioned the Fed and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to overturn a regulation that allows appraisers to be paid a fraction of what can be defined as a customary and reasonable fee, a release from the AGA stated. In 2010, Dodd-Frank rules were enacted to establish certain requirements for appraisals, including one to “ensure that creditors and their agents pay customary and reasonable fees to appraisers,” according to the Dodd-Frank website. But last year, the Fed introduced a new law that the AGA views as undermining the original Dodd-Frank requirement.

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Two Banks Closed, One Left Without Purchaser

Two more banks went under over the weekend, and one of those banks did not find another financial institution to take over. Home Savings of America in Little Falls, Minnesota was left in the hands of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) after not finding another bank to purchase its assets.

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Nearly 1 in 4 Households Use Over 1/2 of Income for Housing Costs

Even with falling home prices, a study from the Center for Housing Policy found affordability is becoming increasingly out of reach for homeowners and renters. According to the Center's report, the share of working households paying more than half their income for housing between 2008 and 2010 went up from 21.8 percent to 23.6 percent. As home prices dropped between 2008 and 2010, working homeowners also dealt with shrinking paychecks as incomes dropped twice as much as housing costs over the two-year period.

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