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Report: Obstacles to Policies that Encourage Low-Priced Housing

Inclusionary housing policies--those which either require or encourage developers to provide low-priced housing within market-rate developments--have largely survived the recent housing downturn. However, several obstacles now stand in their way, preventing them from reaching their full effectiveness, according to a recent report from the Center for Housing Policy. Major hindrances to these policies include shifts in development pattern, new restrictions regarding rental housing, and rising homeowner association fees, among others.

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FNC: Foreclosure Market Stabilizing as Home Values Rise

With the ongoing housing recovery, the foreclosure market is also stabilizing and foreclosure prices are bottoming out, according to a report from, according to a report from FNC. Foreclosure price discounts are now at pre-housing crisis levels, averaging 12.2 percent in Q4 2012. In 2004, foreclosure discounts hovered near the same levels, averaging around 12 percent. At the peak of the crisis, discounts for foreclosed homes averaged 25 percent, data from FNC revealed.

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South Leads Drop in Builder Confidence in February

Led by a sharp drop in the South, builder confidence slipped in February to 46, the lowest level since November, the National Association of Home Builders reported Tuesday. Economists had expected the Housing Market Index (HMI), a measure of confidence, would improve to 48 from January's reading of 47. The national index has stalled since reaching an 80-month high of 47 in December.

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MCS Announces Expansion of Mobile Toolset

Mortgage Contracting Services LLC (MCS) announced the addition of new tools to its mobile offering. The expanded toolset will provide vendors with several mobile field service applications that can be used across multiple devices and systems.

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California Inventory Continues to Diminish as Foreclosure Activity Falls

Foreclosure activity was somewhat mixed in the five Western states--Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington--observed by ForeclosureRadar over the month of January. Notably, California foreclosure sales were down in January, despite a past trend of an uptick in the month following a decline in December. However, this January, both notices of default and notices of foreclosure sale declined in January--down 60.5 percent and 34.83 percent, respectively, over the month. Adequate inventory is necessary for a recovery to take place, but is lacking in much of the state, according to the analytics firm.

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Two Minnesota Counties File Suit Against MERS

Ramsey and Hennepin counties filed suit against Mortgage Electronic Registration Service, Inc. (MERS), alleging the company violated Minnesota law by not recording mortgage assignments at county recorders' offices and by not paying attendant recording fees, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced Friday. In a statement, MERS said it will defend against the complaint, announcing it has ""prevailed in similar recording fee cases in Kentucky, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Union County, Illinois.""

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Chicago Bank Falls, Raising 2013 Tally to Three

Chicago's Covenant Bank is the third FDIC-insured institution to close this year, the agency announced. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation--Division of Banking closed the bank Friday, appointing FDIC as receiver. As of the end of last year, Covenant Bank had approximately $58.4 million in total assets and $54.2 million in total deposits.

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Fifty-Four Senators Pledge Support for Cordray’s Re-appointment

Fifty-four Senate Democrats and Independents issued a letter to the president last week defending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and pledging to support the re-appointment of current director Richard Cordray. Obama announced last month his intent to renominate Cordray for the position, reigniting criticism and the threat of another filibuster. Adding to the controversy is a recent appeals court ruling invalidating the appointments of several National Labor Relations Board members who were appointed at the same time as the CFPB leader.

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Redfin: New Short Sale Listings Down 54% from 2012

In a blog post Friday, Redfin revealed new conventional listings have actually gone up 2 percent compared to last year, while listings for distressed properties have been reduced in half. Redfin conducted an analysis of new property listings in the first five weeks of 2013 (January 1 to February 11) compared to the same period in 2012. The Seattle-based brokerage found short sale listings decreased 54 percent from 2012, while REO listings are down by 46 percent. Overall, new listings declined 18 percent from 2012.

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Barclays: Why Repeat Mods Have Been Making a Comeback

The pace of modifications is slowing compared to the 2010 peak, but repeat modifications are on the rise, according to a recent research report from Barclays. Not only are mods returning for seconds, but researchers from Barclays also found remodifications perform more poorly than first-time mods. Barclays gave three reasons for the rise in repeat mods: first-time mods did not reduce payments enough, leading to higher re-defaults; servicers are taking advantage of HAMP principal reduction alternatives; and servicing transfers are leading to an increase in remodifications.

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