News

Field Asset Services (FAS), a provider of pre-foreclosure, REO, and renovation field services to mortgage servicers and investors, announced the release of Flexible Mobile Survey, an add-on to the company's FAStrack Mobile platform. Flexible Mobile Survey assists field asset vendors by delivering a customized work order in the form of a survey directly to their smart phone.

With institutional investors playing a major role in the home-buying market as they snagged tens of thousands of homes in 2012, RealtyTrac set to work to determine which markets still offer the best opportunities for investors intending to purchase single-family homes to rent. Topping the list of top 20 markets were Memphis, Tennessee; Saginaw, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; Ocala, Florida; and Las Vegas, Nevada. In Memphis, Tennessee, the median sales price for a three-bedroom home is $72,605, and investors can expect a cash purchase capitalization rate of 10.38 percent.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance jumped an unexpected 28,000 to 385,000--the highest level since November--for the week ending March 30, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to rise to 350,000. Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 23 were unchanged at 357,000.

According to findings from Redfin, the number of agents saying now is a good time to buy plummeted from 75 percent in Q3 2012 to just 57 percent in Q1 2013. At the same time, the number of agents saying now is a bad time to buy rose slightly, though the percentage is still low--5 percent in Q1 2013 compared to 2 percent in Q3 2012. On the other hand, 82 percent of agents believe now is a good time to sell, a spike from 54 percent in the third-quarter survey.

Reports may tout data pointing to a housing recovery, but nearly eight in 10 Americans are unconvinced, according to the How Housing Matters survey conducted by Hart Research Associates. In the survey, 58 percent of Americans said they believe we are still in the middle of the housing crisis, while another 19 percent said the worst is yet to come, which means 77 percent hold the belief that the crisis is still here. Just one in five, or 20 percent, believe the crisis is ""pretty much over.""

Rising costs took a toll on per-loan profits in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks earned an average profit of $2,256 on each loan originated in Q4, down quarter-over-quarter from $2,465, MBA reported. The decline in profits came despite a rise in production volume. According to MBA, average production volume was $488 million per company in the Q4, up from $450 million in the prior quarter.

Interest from first-time homebuyers is steadily growing due to concerns over rising interest rates and prices, while investor interest remains strong, according to results from the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The survey found first-time homebuyers accounted for 34.5 percent of home purchase transactions in February, leading to the second monthly increase. Meanwhile, investor purchases reached a four-month high after accounting for 34.5 percent of transactions in February, according to the survey results.

CoreLogic's Home Price Index (HPI) posted its largest annual increase in nearly seven years in February. When including distressed sales (short sales and REO transactions), home prices in February increased by 10.2 percent from February 2012, the data provider reported Wednesday. The annual gain marks the largest increase since March 2006. From January to February, prices still moved in a positive direction, but rose by just 0.5 percent.

Since the housing crisis, many large banks have sold off servicing portfolios to smaller, emerging companies. According to a recent study, these portfolios often begin to perform better after the transfers. Opera Solutions found faster liquidations and better long-term performance for modified loans after portfolios were sold. According to the study, two servicers stand out for acquiring the ""lion's share"" of servicing rights--Ocwen and Nationstar. At Ocwen, which acquired the most loans, the study detected higher levels of foreclosures and REO rates immediately following acquisitions. However, after a period of months, Ocwen's portfolios stabilized and improved.

Since December 1, 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has handled more than 63,700 mortgage complaints, according to a report from the bureau. Most of the mortgage complaints were a result of issues borrowers faced when they were not able to make their mortgage payments. Overall, 61 percent of the mortgage complaints dealt with issues related to loan modifications, collections, or foreclosures. The second most common mortgage complaint fell into the ""making payments"" category, which covers issues with loan servicing, payments, or escrow accounts.