Government

With the housing crisis still taking its toll, the nation's homeownership rate slipped further during the first three months of this year. The U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday that the homeownership rate dropped to 66.4 percent at the end of the first quarter. It's fallen back to a level not seen since 1998. Analysis of the numbers shows that the housing bust, elevated foreclosures, and a diminished ""American Dream"" have more than reversed the increase in homeownership gained during the boom.

The Federal Reserve will end its second bond-buying spree - this time to the tune of $600 billion - by the end of the second quarter as planned. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says the sunset of the central bank's targeted initiative for pumping money into the economy is ""unlikely to have a significant effect"" on mortgage rates. That was Bernanke's response during the hour-long press conference held Wednesday after the Fed's two-day policy meeting - the first press briefing held by a U.S. central bank commander in the institution's 96-year history.

North Dakota is the 27th state to restrict home resale fees, also known as ""private transfer fees."" Governor Jack Dalrymple recently signed bill SB 2149 to ban them. Private transfer fees require that a private third party receive a percentage of the final sale price of a home every time the property is sold, typically for 99 years.

The percentage of home loans going unpaid is steadily declining for the nation's second largest mortgage company. Freddie Mac reported Tuesday that its single-family seriously delinquent rate decreased to 3.63 percent in March. That's down 15 basis points from 3.78 percent in February, and the fourth consecutive month that the rate has headed south. With only a few intermittent blips upward over the last year, Freddie has recorded a drop in its seriously delinquent rate in nine of the past 12 months.

The Loan Post, Inc. has introduced a new do-it-yourself private label short sales system. ShortSales360 produces e-signature-ready documents for the federal Home Affordable Foreclosures Alternatives (HAFA) short sale initiative. It also calculates probable lender losses if a foreclosure is executed and the net investor benefit in a short sale transaction, so lenders and investors can determine if a short sale makes financial sense.

The program launched by Treasury in March 2009 to take toxic mortgage assets off banks' books has earned $1.7 billion for taxpayers -- $500 million in dividends on the investments made and $1.2 billion in ""unrealized gains"" as the value of securities purchased under the program has increased. The private investment firms participating in the program - including the likes of AllianceBernstein, BlackRock, and Invesco - are seeing returns ranging from 27 to 75 percent.

In a joint announcement from JPMorgan Chase and U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jonathon Rowles, the financial services firm revealed it will provide $27 million in benefits to its military customers. The funds are part of a settlement to a class action lawsuit over financial protections due to military customers under the Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA). JP Morgan admitted to violating the SCRA after the company wrongfully foreclosed on military families and overcharged thousands.

With no lender closings this weekend, the 2011 failed-bank tally holds at 34. By comparison, at this time in 2010, the year's failures stood at 57. Earlier this month, the FDIC updated its loss projections. The cost of FDIC-insured institution failures for the five-year period from 2011 through 2015 is expected to be $21 billion, compared to losses of $24 billion for banks that failed in 2010 alone. Market analysis conducted by Trepp LLC indicates that lenders are now taking the biggest hit from souring commercial real estate loans.

Clear Capital has released its new Property Condition Inspection (PCI) tool. The new product provides a property's physical condition and characteristics, supplementing automated valuation models (AVMs) in accordance with new requirements from the Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines (IAG) issued by federal regulators.

Under a new Idaho state law, lenders must respond to requests for loan modification within 45 days and cannot proceed to a foreclosure sale until after responding to the request. House Bill 331, which takes effect September 1, also stipulates that lenders must meet in person or over the phone with the borrower if the borrower requests it. In addition, new documentation requirements and borrower contact parameters have been put in place.