News

Home finance balances written off in the first quarter fell to a five-year low, according to Equifax's National Consumer Credit Trends report for March. The balance for home finance write-offs, which includes loans that completed the foreclosure process, transitioned into REO status, entered bankruptcy, or were charged off by the lender, decreased to $43.1 billion in the first quarter of this year. The balance represents a 22 percent decline from $55.4 billion in Q1 2012.

Mortgage default rates moved lower along with the overall national default rate in March, according to the Consumer Credit Default Indices released by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian. The first mortgage default rate fell to 1.41 percent last month from 1.48 percent in February and 1.88 percent from March 2012. The second mortgage default rate was down to 0.69 percent, a monthly and yearly decrease from 0.71 percent and 1.03 percent, respectively.

Housing organizations across the country will be able to receive funds through a $70.1 million award through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program, NeighborWorks America announced Tuesday. According to a release, the funds will go to 30 state housing finance agencies (HFAs), 17 HUD-approved housing counseling intermediaries, and 72 community-based NeighborWorks organizations.

Led by a surge in multifamily building, housing starts jumped 7.0 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,036,000, the highest level since June 2008 while housing starts dropped 3.9 percent to 902,000, the lowest level since November, the Census Bureau and HUD reported jointly Tuesday. In February, multifamily activity represented 60 percent of the increase in permits, while in March, all of the multifamily units accounted for all of the increase in starts as single-family starts fell.

A Rhode Island Supreme Court ruling determined Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), as mortgagee, had the authority to proceed with a foreclosure on behalf of another entity, MERS announced in a release.

FG Lender Services (WFGLS), a provider of title insurance and real estate settlement services for lender real estate transactions, acquired Valutrust Solutions, LLC (Valutrust), a national mortgage services and technology development business based in Overland Park, Kansas.

Home sales rose 25 percent month-over-month in March, reflecting the normal spring spike that occurs every year, according to Redfin. On a year-over-year basis, however, sales were up just 0.9 percent--the smallest gain in 14 months. Ten of the 19 markets tracked by Redfin saw sales increase year-over-year, one fewer than February. All 19 markets posted month-over-month improvements. Home prices also saw a nice boost, growing 6.2 percent from February and 15 percent from March 2012. However, the number of homes for sale fell 31 percent from March 2012 to March 2013.

Genworth U.S. Mortgage Insurance (USMI), a unit of Genworth Financial, Inc., announced it will offer 24 training classes in April to help mortgage lenders and servicers improve their efficiency and build their business. Genworth offers an extensive slate of training courses through classroom teaching, instructor-led webinars, and videos and recorded webinars that customers can access and complete at their own pace.

According to data from Moody's Analytics and RCA, Commercial real estate (CRE) prices ticked up slightly in February. The Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI) national all-property composite index increased 0.5 percent in February from the January price level, Moody&'s revealed in a release. The index's two components--apartment and core commercial--increased by 1.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, for the month.

After just one month of its release, the AfterForeclosure Loan Eligibility App has garnered interest from over 4,000 potential buyers, according to AfterForeclosure.com, the site that introduced the product. The application gives borrowers who have lost their home to a foreclosure or short sale an idea of where they stand in terms of being able to qualify for a loan again. According to a release, 23 percent of users passed and were found to be eligible to purchase after losing their home through a foreclosure or short sale.