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Administration: As Market Shows Stability, It’s Time to Reform Housing

Newly initiated foreclosures are on the decline, reaching their lowest numbers since December 2005 in June, according to the latest Housing Scorecard from the Obama administration. Meanwhile, the administration continues to add to the tally of homeowners helped through its Making Home Affordable Program, bringing the total to more than 1.7 million as of June. Looking forward, the administration says it will focus on forming a new housing finance system.

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Commentary: Solving the Wrong Problem

President Obama is trying to solve the wrong problem by calling, as he did in his speech in Phoenix, for the end of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as we know it. To be sure, Fannie and Freddie were not the hallmarks of responsibility in the mortgage meltdown, but have gotten a bad rap. For all their housing expertise, they missed all the signals of the housing bubble (but then again so did Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and his successor Ben S. Bernanke who dismissed it when the first signs of the meltdown emerged). Instead of suggesting replacing Fannie and Freddie to restore the nation's housing markets, the president should be proposing to return them to their original charters.

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Freddie Mac: Multifamily Market Still a Good Investment

Even as the single-family housing market recovers, apartment properties should still be a solid investment in most markets going forward, according to Freddie Mac's analysts. In its mid-year multifamily outlook for 2013, the mortgage giant notes that multifamily market fundamentals such as rents and vacancies continue to improve, with New York, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, and Los Angeles all seeing marked growth.

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Court Rules Borrowers Can Fight Bank’s Decision to Deny Modification

Homeowners who are denied a modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) even after completing a trial period plan (TPP) have legal standing to sue their lender, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Thursday. Reversing a lower court dismissal, the ""panel held that the district court should not have dismissed the plaintiffs' complaints when the record before it showed that the bank had accepted and retained the payments demanded by the TPP,"" the court opinion stated.

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California Dominates Turnaround Towns List; Detroit Claims Spot

California markets dominate Realtor.com’s list of Turnaround Towns for the second quarter of this year, claiming the top four spots on the list and six of the top 10. While California may take the most spots on the top 10 list, Realtor.com says Detroit's presence on the list is ""most noteworthy."" The top 10 ""Turnaround Towns"" are determined by an algorithm that relies on data including inventory levels, median list prices, median number of days on market, and search and listing activity on Realtor.com.

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MBA Ranking Reveals Largest Commercial/Multifamily Servicers

Wells Fargo is the largest servicer of commercial and multifamily mortgages by dollar volume as of the end of June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The institution is responsible for primary and master servicing duties for $431 billion in commercial and multifamily loans, according to data released Thursday by MBA. PNC Real Estate/Midland Loan Services is the second-largest commercial/multifamily servicer, working with $352.8 billion in loans.

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List of Improving Markets Shrinks to 247 in August

The number of markets listed on the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Improving Markets Index (IMI) continued to decline in August, though the index still sits well ahead of where it was last year, the association reported. ""While the number of improving housing markets this August remains well ahead of the same month last year, the index is affected by seasonal softening in home prices just as we saw happen in 2012,"" explained NAHB chief economist David Crowe.

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Fannie Mae Reports $10.1B Profit in Q2

Fannie Mae&'s second-quarter profits nearly doubled year-over-year, the GSE reported. The company reported Thursday net income of $10.1 billion in Q2 2013 compared to $5.1 billion for Q2 2012. It was the sixth consecutive quarter of profit for Fannie Mae. Comprehensive income totaled $10.3 billion, again nearly double that of the same quarter last year ($5.4 billion).

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FHFA Calls Eminent Domain ‘Threat’ to GSEs, May Consider Legal Action

As local governments consider the use of eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages, they may have to deal with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) before moving forward with the plan. In a statement Thursday, FHFA stated it may ""initiate legal challenges"" to local or state actions that authorize the use of eminent domain to restructure mortgage contracts impacting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Another action the GSEs' regulator might take is limit or stop business activity in jurisdictions that authorize the use of eminent domain to restructure mortgages.

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