Headlines

Three special servicers released their fourth quarter and year-end numbers, noting increases in revenue and increasingly active originations sectors. However, analysts remain concerned that the increased revenue, largely derived from government programs such as HARP, will stall as refinances slow down.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced Friday in a press release the closing of Millennium Bank, National Association of Sterling, Virginia. The bank was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the FDIC as the bank’s receiver.

The housing market’s cooler-than-expected first quarter should just be a temporary blip in a year of modest overall growth, according to Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae’s latest economic forecast notes harsh weather stunted new home construction in Q1 2014, but the report also reaffirms Fannie Mae's position that the economy and housing markets will improve on 2013 growth by the end of Q4.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Thursday it has reached a settlement with Société Générale, related companies, and specifically named individuals. The parties have reached a settlement of $122 million, and resolved claims made in the lawsuit FHFA vs. Société Générale, et al.

“Ongoing disruptive weather patterns in much of the U.S. inhibited home shopping,” said National Association of Realtor’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun. The analysis came in the wake of the release of NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, noting pending sales edged up .1 percent to 95 last month. Compared to January 2013, pending sales were down 9.0 percent.

Woodward Asset Capital, a developer of technology for the national real estate and mortgage servicing industries, announced in a press release it has acquired Homesource Realtors, a Michigan-based real estate brokerage.

Freddie Mac released on Thursday its quarterly earnings report for the end of 2013, revealing yet another strong quarter—the ninth straight. Net income at the enterprise totaled $8.6 billion in Q4. For all of 2013, Freddie Mac reported providing liquidity for 1.6 million refinances; 515,000 home purchases; and 388,000 multifamily rental units.

Foreclosure inventory in January was down by one-third over the year, although completed foreclosures ticked up over the month, according to CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report released Thursday. Demonstrating an 11.8 percent increase over the month, completed foreclosures totaled 48,000 in January.

According to a report from The Charlotte Observer, Wells Fargo is laying off another 700 mortgage workers across the country. The bank announced Thursday the layoffs would affect mortgage processors and underwriters the hardest. What is causing the lending giant to cut jobs nationwide?

RealtyTrac released its January 2014 Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report on Thursday, revealing institutional investors made up 5.2 percent of all U.S. residential property sales in January. Institutional investor sales are down from 7.9 percent in December, and down 8.2 percent from January, 2013.