News

The United Athletes Foundation (UAF), Builders of Hope and Consumer Education Services, Inc. (CESI) announced Bring it Home, an initiative to revitalize blighted communities by developing safe and affordable housing and by educating new homebuyers and renters moving into the renovated houses. UAF, Builders of Hope, and Consumer Education Services Inc. launched Bring it Home, an effort to revive communities struck by the housing crises by developing safe and affordable housing and by educating new homebuyers and renters moving into the renovated houses.

According to a preliminary report released by LPS, 2,060,000 properties are in foreclosure inventory. As of the end of the 2011 fourth quarter, 11.1 million borrowers were reported to be underwater, according to CoreLogic. That's a lot of potential debt to be forgiven, and through the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, homeowners get a break from paying taxes on their forgiven debt, whether it was forgiven through a short sale, foreclosure, or a modification. The act though, is set to expire at the end of this year.

The US economy grew at a disappointing 2.2 percent in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday, down from the 3.0 percent growth rate in the fourth quarter and below expectations. Economists had expected GDP to grow at 2.5 percent in the first quarter. In dollar terms, GDP increased $73.4 billion, most of which was an increase in personal consumption - $68.1 billion. A slowdown in government spending subtracted $19.0 billion, most of which was a $15.0 billion drop in federal spending in the first quarter from the fourth.

Lawmakers seated on the Senate Banking Committee convened a hearing Wednesday to discuss ways to make HARP a more effective and accessible option for responsible, underwater borrowers. Laurie Goodman, senior managing director at Amherst Securities Group, said her number one suggestion is to allow for competition by permitting a different servicer to refinance a borrower on the same terms that apply to the current servicer. Currently, only mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are eligible for refinancing under HARP.

Fixed mortgage rates slipped further down, maintaining their near-record low averages despite evidence of an improving economy, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The Fed stated that it expects economic growth to remain moderate and then pick up gradually. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which has been below 4 percent every week in 2012 except one so far, averaged 3.88 percent (0.7 point), a drop from last week's average of 3.90 percent.

The California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) announced its support for a bill that will prevent California homeowners from going into foreclosure if they have negotiated a short sale with their lender or servicer. Assembly Bill 1745 (Torres, D-Pomona) prevents lenders or servicers from recording a notice of sale if a short sale has been approved. The bill is scheduled for hearing on April 30 by the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee.

Before a senate subcommittee Thursday, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan revealed details of his department's 2013 fiscal year budget and presented a breakdown on what programs the funds will help. Overall, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2013 provides $44.8 billion for housing programs, an increase of 3.2 percent or $1.4 billion compared to 2012. However, Donovan further explained that the program funding level is offset by $9.4 billion in projected FHA and Ginnie Mae receipts, which means the budget is actually $35.4 billion, or 7.3 percent below the fiscal year 2012 level of $38.2 billion.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose sharply in March to 101.4 from February’s revised 97.4, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Economist had expected the index to increase 1.0 percent from February. The index is now at the highest level since April 2010 when it reached 111. The index improved for the third straight month and fifth time in the last 6 months. The March reading is up 12.8 percent from March 2011, the strongest year-over-year gain since last July when the index was 15.4 percent over its year-earlier level.

While 114 out of 212 metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more saw increases in foreclosure activity during the 2012 first quarter, activity was still down compared to the same quarter a year ago, according to RealtyTrac's 2012 first quarter Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report. Last year, 135 out of 212 metros areas saw increases in foreclosure activity in the first quarter.

Mortgage delinquencies fell back on both a monthly and annual basis in March, according to preliminary market data released by Lender Processing Services (LPS) for the month. The company's estimation puts the national delinquency rate - measured as 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure - at 7.09 percent. At the same time, the foreclosure rate inched up ever so slightly to 4.14 percent. Altogether, the numbers equate to just over five-and-a-half million properties in foreclosure or past due on their debt.