A new survey of home appraisers says the majority in the recent past have felt pressured to inflate the value of homes, according to ValuFinders, Inc., the technology provider that conducted and released the study.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Thursday that the Bush administration’s enhanced FHASecure program—an initiative that allows distressed borrowers with good credit histories to refinance into safer FHA insured loans—has saved 200,000 troubled borrowers since its launch in September of 2007.

Having the ability to sell REO properties in a safe, online environment is no longer an aspiration for California-based REOTrans, LLC., but an existent reality that has produced many positive returns. The company, which automates the entire default management process for participating vendors, asset managers and real estate agents, says its e-commerce Marketplace processes 100,000 transactions daily.

Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac issued a statement Wednesday, saying the company experienced a net loss of $151 million, or $0.66 per diluted common share, during the first quarter of this year.

Four U.S. Senators—Sen. Chuck Hagel:http://hagel.senate.gov/public/, R-Neb.; Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-NC.; Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H.; and Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.—sent a strongly worded letter to government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) regulator James Lockhart, director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, on Monday.

A new report from ratings agency Fitch Ratings said Wednesday that global banks with subprime mortgage assets have already written down more than 80-percent of their losses related to the subprime mortgage crisis.

Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, a foreclosure data provider and an online marketplace for distressed properties, released its April 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ on Wednesday, which shows foreclosure filings were issued against 243,353 properties in April.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. has offered 6,000 employees of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc., new jobs under its umbrella, according to a new report from Reuters. Bear Stearns, of course, is the subject of a JP Morgan acquisition.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke elaborated on some of the initiatives his agency implemented over the last year to provide liquidity to strained financial markets, while also lamenting on the limitations of current Federal Reserve policy in addressing the recent financial crisis during a speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Financial Markets Conference on Tuesday.

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based real estate auction firm Williams & Williams is launching a 72-hour real estate auction on Tuesday that will feature 565 homes in 26 states. The extended auction runs until May 15, 2007, and offers buyers an opportunity to bid online or in-person.