News

Fannie Mae said Wednesday that it brought in $2.7 billion dollars in net income during the first quarter of this year, and for the first time since it was seized by the government in September of 2008, the company does not need a draw of taxpayer funds from Treasury to get out of the red. Fannie Mae says its improving numbers can be traced to lower credit-related expenses as the decline in home prices slowed and the company shed some of its REO holdings.

Analyzing the housing market through the perspective of 384 markets, Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes pointed to a slow, but steady pace toward recovery after dramatic price declines. According to the Fiserv indexes, in the fourth quarter of 2011, home prices in 70 of the 384 metro areas tracked were either unchanged or had increased compared to the same quarter a year ago. Also, 122 of the metros saw prices decline by less than 2 percent. On the other hand, nearly one-half of the metro areas, or 191, saw prices decrease by more than 2 percent.

After declining during the 2012 first quarter, the national mortgage delinquency rate is at its lowest level since the first quarter of 2009 and finally dropped after two consecutive quarterly increases. TransUnion reported Wednesday that the national delinquency rate, which includes borrowers 60 or more days past due, is 5.78 percent for the first quarter of 2012, a quarterly and yearly drop when the rates were 6.01 percent and 6.19 percent, respectively.

According to Freddie Mac's first quarter refinance analysis, 79 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien mortgage either maintained or reduced their mortgage debt. Of these borrowers, 58 percent retained about the same loan amount, which is the highest level reached in the 26-year history of the analysis, while 21 percent managed to reduce their principal balance.

Solvency issues re-emerged for the Federal Housing Administration in a hearing convened Tuesday by the Senate Banking Committee, with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan calling for lower loan-to-value thresholds and more servicer competition to expand refinance opportunities. The hearing quickly turned to servicer competition, which the HUD official said is lacking in part because of strict underwriting guidelines under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, inflating home prices and keeping refinance opportunities out of reach for many homeowners.

Due to one important adjustment, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might start accepting funds to be applied toward principal reduction in California. The Keep Your Home California program once required participants in its principal reduction program to match funds it provided towards reducing principal. Recently, housing finance agency officials from the state announced a decision to no longer require lenders to match the funds the program provides, the L.A. Times first reported.

Bank of America began mailing out more than 200,000 letters this week targeting borrowers thought to be eligible for principal-reducing modifications under terms of the settlement reached with the federal government and 49 state attorneys general. To be eligible, a homeowner must owe more on the mortgage than the property is worth today and must have been at least 60 days behind on payments on January 31, 2012. BofA estimates average monthly savings of 30 percent for qualifying customers.

DataQuick launched a valuation tool to help portfolio risk managers with correctly assessing default and loss severity risk. CMV-Portfolio is a flexible, automated valuation tool that uses confidence scores and configurable business rules to optimize portfolio risk management decisions.

When including distressed sales, home prices rose month-over-month by the same percentage point as they dropped year-over-year. CoreLogic reported Tuesday in its March Home Price Index (HPI) that compared to a year ago, prices declined 0.6 percentin March, while prices rose 0.6 percent compared to the month before in February. The monthly gain when including distressed sales is the first time since July 2011. Distressed sales include short sales and REO transactions.

IL Group, a provider of customized lender placed insurance products and services headquartered in Gulf Shores, Alabama, has counted Chicago-based Fay Financial as a client for three years. The company announced last week that Fay Financial will continue to leverage IL Group for customized lender-placed and forced-placed insurance products and services to streamline workflow, improve efficiencies, and maintain regulatory compliance. IL Group also announced the launch of a new company website to better reflect its strategic vision and support anticipated growth.