Foreclosure

For the first time in five months, fewer sellers cut the asking price of their home in August, according to the online real estate marketplace Zillow. As of the end of last month, the company says just over one-fourth, 28.8 percent, of all listings on Zillow had at least one price reduction. That's a decrease from the 30.1 percent of listings that had a price reduction as of the end of July. Zillow says nationally, the median price cut amounts to 7 percent.

The total value of distressed commercial real estate (CRE) in the United States right now is $186.9 billion, including properties in default, foreclosure, and lender REO, according to data from the research firm Real Capital Analytics. The Transwestern company Delta Associates says this tally represents an increase of 12 percent, or $20.1 billion, since June and means CRE distress has risen back to the level it was in March of this year. But the company says a plateau in the $165-$200 billion range will be the norm for a while.

Moody's Investors Service says U.S. banks have already written off nearly two-thirds of the real estate loans expected to go sour through 2011. The credit ratings agency projects banks will incur $744 billion of loan charge-offs between 2008 and 2011. Moody's analysts say an estimated $476 billion of these losses have already been recognized, leaving $268 billion, or 36 percent, remaining. So far, 68 percent of residential mortgage losses have been accounted for versus 49 percent of bad commercial real estate loans.

Economic growth is still grinding along, but has slowed considerably since earlier in the year, according to the Federal Reserve's popular Beige Book report released Wednesday. Reports from the 12 Fed districts on their local economies painted a picture of ""widespread signs of a deceleration."" Real estate remains a drag on economic growth in regions across the country, with major trouble spots identified in poor home sales and weak demand for commercial space.

HUD awarded an additional $1 billion Wednesday to state and county governments to help communities reverse the effects of the foreclosure crisis and assist with the cleanup of vacant homes. The grants represent the third round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding - which so far amounts to a total of $7 billion - earmarked for acquiring, redeveloping, or demolishing foreclosed properties. Recipients are able to take advantage of HUD's new REO ""First Look"" program with the nation's largest mortgage lenders.

The delinquency rate for real estate loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) accelerated in August after two successive months in which delinquency increases had moderated, according to Trepp LLC. Overall, the percentage of loans 30 or more days delinquent, in foreclosure, or REO, jumped 21 basis points last month, putting the overall delinquency rate at 8.92 percent. The analysts at Trepp say the August numbers ""may give ammunition to those who argue that the commercial real estate crisis is far from over.""

That ominous shadow inventory of distressed homes that's been hanging over the industry was trimmed in July, according to Barclays Capital. It marked the fifth straight month the company has recorded a decline in the shadow supply. Barclays says it shrank 1.2 percent, to 3.92 million homes. At the same time, the firm's assessment of the nation's REO inventory ticked up 0.2 percent to 538,000 properties. The distressed share of home sales rose sharply in July, and Barclays says this will likely drive prices down 2 percent over the next three months.

A faction of House Democrats have called on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Fannie Mae's regulator to suspend the GSE's recently announced policy to sue homeowners who strategically default on their mortgage. The group of lawmakers, led by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan, called the policy ""opaque, overbroad, and punitive."" They decried Fannie for using taxpayer dollars to penalize underwater homeowners, and maintained that the policy runs counter to the national need to stem a devastating tide of foreclosures.

The Office of the Wayne County Treasurer in Michigan will conduct its first Internet auction of more than 13,000 tax foreclosed properties September 17-23. Bid4Assets.com will perform the online auction. The auctioned properties represent a 44 percent increase over the number of properties seized by the county in 2009, making it the largest auction ever for Wayne County.

The nation's largest mortgage company is about to start cracking down on servicers for letting delinquent loans languish too long without action. Fannie Mae has issued a notice alerting servicers that it is monitoring all delinquent loans to ensure foreclosures are handled within an acceptable time frame, and may assess penalties for poor servicer performance. By the tone of Fannie's announcement, the GSE wants these nonperformers off its books as quickly as possible.