News

Credit Unions continued to grow during the first quarter of 2014, although higher interest rates slowed mortgage originations, according to the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The group found that total first mortgage real estate loans reached $272.6 billion, up 9.7 percent from Q1 2013.

Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS) has named Jeff Thompson as the new VP of Operations and Dan Hoeh as AVP of Operations for the company's Ruston, Louisiana operations center.

In a report originally in Reuters, Ocwen will stop requiring gag orders, which disallowed some homeowners from criticizing the company publicly in exchange for having their loan terms modified, according to New York State's Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin Lawsky.

April sales of Massachusetts single-family homes dropped 2.3 percent compared with the same month last year, according to the latest from the Warren Group. The percentage decline represents a decrease from 3,508 last year to 3,427 in April.

In its second annual survey of housing attitudes, the MacArthur Foundation found 51 percent of American consumers still believe the country is in the midst of its housing crisis, while another 19 percent believe the worst is yet to come. Only 25 percent said they believe "the housing crisis is pretty much over."

In its latest Home Price Index, CoreLogic reported that home prices continue to rise across the nation, with more increases to come in 2015. The company reported that home prices increased 10.5 percent in April from the previous year, including distressed sales. The company projects home prices will continue to increase by 1.0 percent month-over-month in May.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has sued the Federal Housing Finance Agency and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, alleging the companies' refusal to engage in foreclosure buyback programs is "unfairly and illegally causing Massachusetts families to lose their homes."

VRM Mortgage Services announced that it has listed, managed, and sold over 500,000 REO properties since the company was founded eight years ago. According to company officials, the volume is more than any other asset management company over the same period, and stems from the company’s emphasis on supporting local communities and preserving property values.

Fannie Mae's book of business shrank again in April, continuing an uninterrupted streak of declines that started at the end of 2013. According to the enterprise's volume summary report, the book's total value contracted in April at a compound negative growth rate of 2.7 percent. The latest drop brings the book's average year-to-date growth rate to -2.3 percent.

RealtyStore, a provider of a broad variety of real estate listings, recently released a report outlining average selling prices for bank foreclosures. The company found the median price of bank foreclosures for sale in six select states list at an average of nearly 50 percent below recent median existing-home sale prices.