News

The Warren Group reported Thursday that foreclosure activity in Massachusetts rose in the month of May as banks resume foreclosure processes. The number of foreclosure petitions in the state more than doubled year-over-year, rising from 699 in May 2011 to 1,724 in May 2012.

The drop in existing home sales reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Thursday likely stemmed from a lack of distressed properties on the market, according to IHS Global Insight. In May, existing-home sales made a fall of 1.5 percent from the month before. The share of investor purchases also declined, which IHS economist Patrick Newport said is likely due to a drop in the number of distressed homes. According to the NAR report, investor purchases made up 17 percent of homes sales in May, down from 20 percent in April and 19 percent in May 2011.

The deadline to request a free, independent foreclosure review has been extended for another two months, and so far, nearly 200,000 people have requested a foreclosure review, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board announced Thursday. The new deadline to request an independent foreclosure review is getting pushed back from July 31 to September 30, 2012. The review is for those who believe they have suffered financial harm as result of servicing errors during a foreclosure process between 2009 and 2010.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's proposed Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act of 2012 passed in the state Assembly, the Office of the Attorney General announced Thursday. Schneiderman introduced the legislation as part of an effort to protect homeowners from foreclosure and crack down on fraudulent business practices. The Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act defines ""residential mortgage foreclosure fraud"" and imposes criminal penalties-including jail time-for employees who engage in fraudulent conduct (like knowingly authorizing, preparing, executing, or filing false documents in a foreclosure action) or managers who knowingly tolerate such behavior.

Together with GMAC Mortgage and the state of Maryland, HLP created the Portal as a way to ease the process by which homeowners can opt in for Maryland's foreclosure mediation program. Before now, homeowners have had to submit paper copies of documents to the state's Office of Administrative Hearings. With the added option of electronic submission through the Portal, it is hoped that more homeowners will take the step to opt in for mediation.

According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), average mortgage rates are easing, even in the face of troubling economic signs. The 30-year FRM averaged 3.66 (0.7 point) for the week ending June 21, down from 3.71 percent the previous week. At the same time in 2011, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.5 percent. The 15-year FRM averaged 2.95 percent (0.6 point), down from 2.98 percent in the last survey and a year-over-year drop from 3.69 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) both slipped down, as well.

Under a new guideline, military members with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans will now have an easier time with short sales. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco announced in a release Thursday that military homeowners who receive Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders can sell their homes via short sale without having to go into default first. Last year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued guidance to servicers to have PCS orders count as a hardship for military members seeking relief. The new policy takes an even greater step forward and will allow military members with PCS orders to sell a primary residence purchased on or before June 30, 2012 for less than the balance on their mortgages even when current on their payments.

Pro Teck Valuation Services announced Wednesday the availability of a new suite of data and analytics for assessing the value of turning REO properties into rental investments.

Existing home sales dropped to 4.55 million in May while the median price of an existing home rose to $182,600, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Distressed homes accounted for 25 percent of May sales (15 percent were foreclosures and 10 percent were short sales), down from 28 percent in April and 31 percent in May 2011, the NAR said. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 19 percent below market value in May, while short sales were discounted 14 percent.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell to 387,000 for the week ended June 16, from the prior week's 389,000, (revised from the originally reported 387,000) the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected the report would show 386,000 initial claims.