News

After more than a year of intense negotiations, 49 state attorneys general and the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers reached a $25 billion settlement on February 9. While the agreement allotted specific amounts to go towards certain areas of relief, many are wondering how the settlement will affect those represented. Moody's Analytics has released a report offering up an analysis of the settlement's expected impact on both banks and borrowers.

Pending homes sales in California were higher for January compared to the previous month and year, and short sales rose to the highest level in three years, according to the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.). Based on signed contracts, C.A.R.'s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) climbed from a revised 91 in December to 102.4 in January and was also up from last year when the PHSI was 93.1 in January 2011. Of all distressed properties sold in California, 23.8 percent were short sales, the highest level in three years since C.A.R. has kept record.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) released a report showing U.S. home prices fell slightly in the fourth quarter of 2011, but overall, 12 states plus the District of Columbia saw prices increase, according to the seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI was 0.1 percent lower in the fourth quarter than the previous quarter. The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages. Seasonally adjusted prices also fell 2.4 percent compared to a year ago starting with the 2010 fourth quarter.

Decision Ready announced a new technology to manage the disposition of defaulted mortgage assets. RADAR, the new application, provides a toolkit to handle loan sales and transfers, as well as REO disposition.

After hitting near record lows last week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage moved up for the first time in three weeks, according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey from Freddie Mac. The 30-year rate averaged 3.95 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending February 23, up from last week's average at 3.87. The rate is still lower than the average of 4.95 percent from a year ago at this time.

First time claims for unemployment insurance were unchanged at 351,000 for the week ended February 18, as the four-year record low number filings one week earlier were revised upward, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. Continuing claims, reported on a one-week lag, fell 52,000 - the fourth drop in the six weeks this year - and the first time continuing claims have been below 3,400,000 since August 2008. The initial claims report covered the “reference week” used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in developing the monthly employment situation report release and the unemployment rate.

Freddie Mac sees cautious signs of improvement in the housing market and overall economy and expects more warmth in 2013, according to its latest monthly outlook. ""The US economy continues to build on the momentum from the end of last year,"" said Freddie Mac VP and chief economist, Frank Nothaft. Positive signs Freddie cites include job gains, declining unemployment, and high affordability.

JVI Solutions LLC, a nationwide appraisal and inspection services provider, and Active Data Technologies Inc., the parent company of Foreclosure.com, announced Wednesday that the two Florida-based firms have forged a technology partnership which they describe as ""game-changing."" The joint venture will soon introduce a proprietary automated home appraisal and broker price opinion (BPO) system that integrates interactive analytical data into a mobile platform.

HomeValueForecast.com released a report on housing market trends, which highlighted two main findings: most Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) are in the weak or soft category, but the majority of CBSAs had more positive than negative market trends. The ranking was developed based on single family home markets in the top 200 CBSA. Market indicators include average active market time, average listing price, and number of foreclosure sales. The market trend indicators are forward-looking, and so having more positive indicators forecasts improving conditions in a high percentage of the CBSAs.

In response to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Wednesday, experts overall agreed market is heading towards recovery but advised certain factors need to be taken into consideration when analyzing the data. In response to the 4.3 percent month-over-month increase in January for existing-home sales, Capital Economics stated that it is not quite as encouraging as it first appears given that it comes at the expense of a 5 percent downward revision to the previous month's figures.