News

Increasing struggles for office properties, most notably in Atlanta, overshadowed what was otherwise a flat February for delinquencies among loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), according to the latest index results from Fitch Ratings. By the agency's assessment, CMBS late-pays fell two basis points last month to 8.30 percent. The decline was led by a large hotel loan - Innkeepers - that was brought current. Fitch's delinquency index includes 2,536 loans totaling $32.6 billion.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives won't be receiving bonuses anymore, and new CEO pay will be capped at $500,000 as part of an FHFA executive compensation program, according to FHFA 2012 Conservatorship Scorecard released by Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco on Friday. The new $500,000 CEO cap does not apply to chief financial officers, and current CEOs won't have their salaries cut back to $500,000. Total direct compensation for executives will be reduced by 10 percent, with a few exceptions for executives already positioned at a low percentile or for recent hires, according to the report.

Freddie Mac reported a gain in the fourth quarter and less losses overall for the year 2011 compared to the previous year, according to the GSE's fourth quarter and year 2011 report released today. Freddie Mac reported a net income of $619 million for the 2011 fourth quarter. During the third quarter ending September 30, 2011, a net loss of $4.4 billion was reported. Freddie Mac will request $146 million from the U.S. Treasury for the company's fourth quarter net worth deficit.

A multiple listing service (MLS) based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida is requiring real estate agents to disclose if a property they are listing is bank-owned. The requirement was reported on Inman News March 7, following another story published March 4 on Palm Beach Post that revealed some banks are not wanting agents to tell if a property is indeed bank-owned.

The nation added 227,000 jobs in February - the seventh straight month of 100,000-plus payroll gains, the longest such string since 2005 - as the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Economists had anticipated about 210,000 new jobs and a slight uptick in the unemployment rate. The strong report continued a positive trend with just a smattering of weak spots: retail employment dropped slightly and construction jobs declined, hinting that gains in construction in recent months were related to mild weather.

Owners and the managing attorney of a California-based law firm were arrested Thursday for loan modification fraud, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced in a release. Flahive Law Corporation charged thousands of dollars in up-front modification fees for services that were never performed for homeowners, many of whom ended up losing their homes. The defendants claimed that through a mortgage violation audit, they could find bank violations in loan documents and use that as leverage to get a loan modified.

A report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Office of Inspector General stated that the FHFA needs to improve how the agency supervises and oversees Freddie Mac and points to issues with regulating servicers contracted by the GSE. The report revealed that in 2008, FHFA had information indicating that mortgage servicing represented a heightened risk to the enterprises, but FHFA did not begin to devote added attention to servicing issues until August 2010. From the first quarter of 2008 through the fourth quarter of 2010, the number of seriously delinquent Freddie Mac loans went up 376 percent, going from 95,000 to 453,000, according to the report.

Fannie Mae is looking to change the way insurance is applied to borrowers who end up with force-placed insurance due to gaps in coverage. The GSE announced Tuesday that it has issued a request for proposals (RFP) inviting insurance companies to compete for Fannie Mae LPI business, which should lead to significantly reduced insurance costs. By reducing insurance costs, homeowners, taxpayers, and Fannie Mae are all said to save money. Fannie Mae also said it will provide servicers with new policy guidelines on when and how to secure LPI, as well as guidance regarding allowed reimbursable costs.

Record high-levels of homebuyer affordability continues as rates drop and stay near their 60-year lows, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The 15-year fixed, hit an all-time record low of 3.13 percent. Aside from the 1-year ARM, all rates saw a decrease. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.88 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending March 8, a decreased compared to last week's average of 3.90 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 4.88 percent. The 5-year ARM decreased at 2.81 percent (0.7 point). Last week it averaged 2.83 percent and 3.73 percent a year ago at this time.

First time claims for unemployment insurance rose 8,000 in the week ended March 2, the Labor Department reported today, the third straight weekly increase after revisions to earlier data. Continuing claims, reported on a one-week lag, increase 10,000 to 3,416,000, the second straight weekly increase.