News

As part of its High Touch Servicing Program, Fannie Mae entered a deal with Bank of America in July 2011 to purchase mortgage servicing rights (MSR) for about 384,000 high-risk loans the GSE guaranteed. The Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) recently reviewed the deal and the program in general.

Lately, the expectation has been for home prices to continue rising, but a recent report from Zillow put a damper on this view. Home prices dropped in August month-over-month after rising for nine consecutive months. However, the drop was mere a 0.1 percent. At an average of $152,100, prices were still up on a yearly basis, showing an increase of 1.7 percent.

RealtyTrac hosted a webinar Wednesday to get advice from two pros in the world of property flipping. Hosted by Daren Blomquist, VP of RealtyTrac, the webinar featured reality TV show stars Doug Clark and Mike Baird to learn about their experiences as property flippers and holders. In real estate, location is known to be everything, but Mike said in flipping, its ""price, price, and price.""

The data showed that the total number of originated loans of all types and purposes fell by about 780,000 - 10 percent - from 2010 to 2011, partly because of a 13 percent decline in refinancings. The overall drop in refinancings was the result of declines in conventional and FHA activity, as data revealed that VA-related refinancing activity actually rose 41 percent.

Default rates across four categories were down in August, hitting their lowest rates since the end of the 2007/2009 recession, according to data from the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.

Existing home sales rose 7.8 percent to 4.82 million in August the highest level since May 2010 the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. The median price of an existing single-family home in August was $187,400, down $400 from July but up $16,200 or 9.5 percent since August 2011.

Single family starts increased 28,000 in August to 535,000, the highest level since April 2010, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Wednesday. Despite the increase total, housing starts improved just 17,000 as multi-family starts fell.

Home prices skimmed close to the bottom during July this year but climbed 6.3 percent year-over-year by August, according to RE/MAX. The real estate company revealed in its latest National Housing Report that median home prices ticked up from last year over the last seven straight months. Forty-six of the 53 metro areas covered by the RE/MAX report saw prices tick up from over last year, with 15 observing double-digit increases.

The risk of default for loans originated in the third quarter of this year is slightly higher compared to the previous quarter, according to the University Financial Associates (UFA) Default Risk Index. The index rose to 113 from the previous quarter's revised 111. The index measures the risk of default on newly originated prime and nonprime mortgages.

FNC, Inc. received a U.S. patent for Appraisal Score, making it the first patented appraisal review tool.