News

Calculations for REO discounts can differ on extreme levels. In a mortgage market note from FHFA, the agency explained common reasons behind the variations. FHFA stated there are at least six reasons to explain why REO discounts vary so greatly. The first three are the condition effect, characteristics effect, and market effect. Those explanations are directly related to the property value of houses.

According to the GSE's most recent Economic Outlook report, downside risks such as the European debt crisis, the fast-approaching fiscal cliff, and the recent slowdown in hiring have created a drag on the second quarter's modest economic growth. In addition, the summer drought is expected to compound the current slump, with food and agricultural prices rising. With gas prices also on the rise, headline inflation is expected to pick up, stifling consumer spending and possibly affecting consumer attitudes for the rest of the year.

Altisource announced Monday the launch of Hubzu, an improved online residential real estate marketplace.

Beating summer expectations, home prices ticked up 5 percent across 19 major U.S. markets in what real estate broker Redfin called an indicator of a housing market getting stronger. According to the broker, home sales went up 1.4 percent year-over-year, eclipsing a 2.5 percent decline in July. Home sales increased from 26.7 percent to 27.6 percent last month.

A nonprofit was recently established with the purpose of making homeowners aware of the $7.6 billion available through the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF).

Two mortgage loan officers are suing Sterling Savings Bank, based in Washington and with operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and California, for allegedly violating federal and state labor laws. According to the complaint filed in an Oregon federal court, Sterling Savings Bank and Golf Savings Bank denied mortgage loan officers and other mortgage origination employees overtime pay they are due under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The bank's Economics Group issued a special commentary in its Housing Data Wrap-Up for August 2012, examining the potential effects (or lack thereof) the Fed's new plan may have on housing and updating its forecast for the market. The Fed's influence should put downward pressure on long-term interest rates, but Wells Fargo says the benefits from such a move will be modest at best, citing already-low mortgage rates. The bigger issue at hand is the ""fiscal cliff,"" which has led to a slowdown in hiring and turned back gains in consumer confidence.

If Realtors have anything to say about tight lending standards, the observation would be such standards are preventing more home sales and holding back job creation. The Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Realtors recently reached their conclusions in a survey conducted with real estate agents. The findings? Lenders take too long with approving applications, requiring excessive information and preferring only interested homebuyers with high credit scores.

A new website aims to be the main hub for housing information for counselors.

July saw a drop in foreclosure activity in the Bay State, The Warren Group reported Monday. The group released its July 2012 Foreclosure Data for the state, showing that a total of 1,198 foreclosures were initiated in July the lowest monthly level recorded so far in 2012.