News

Foreclosures are claiming a smaller share of the Phoenix sales market. The ratio has dropped for three straight months, according to a new report from Arizona State University's business school. In May, foreclosures represented about 35 percent of existing-home transactions in the Phoenix area, down from 43 percent earlier in the year. Still, the university's real estate professor says he's doubtful foreclosures will cease to be the dominant force in the market. More than 3,500 foreclosures occurred in the Phoenix metro last month.

A dozen U.S. senators are pooling their influence to persuade federal regulators to work with state attorneys general and other federal agencies to ""fix the broken foreclosure process,"" as the lawmakers put it. In a letter to the OCC, the senators stressed that the regulators' consent orders do not preclude states' efforts to hold servicers accountable for any wrongful foreclosures. In a separate move, lawmakers have tagged a servicing regulation bill on as an amendment to the larger economic development legislation making its way through Congress.

Third-party investors are reselling foreclosure properties they've scooped up at auction at a rapid pace in states along the country's Western seaboard. In fact, they're moving distressed homes faster than lenders, according to a local tracking firm. ForeclosureRadar says the resell timeframe for foreclosure investors has dropped throughout its five-state coverage area. The company says it's partially due to spring selling activity, but more to do with a lack of quality, affordable homes for sale as a result of foreclosure delays.

JPMorgan Chase has dismissed David Lowman, who ran the bank's mortgage operations. Lowman joined JPMorgan in 2006 from Citigroup as chief executive officer of the bank's Global Mortgage division. He was promoted just three months later to chief executive officer of Chase Home Lending, where he was responsible for home equity and default, as well as all of Chase's consumer real estate business. He came under fire soon after evidence surfaced of flawed foreclosure paperwork and illegal seizures of servicemembers' homes.

According to Sperlonga Data and Analytics, unpaid homeowners association (HOA) fees are a clear sign of potential mortgage default. Sperlonga has launched a new service, Loss Mitigation Association Surveillance (LMAS), which is designed to help mortgage servicers reduce risk after a loan modification by alerting lenders when a borrower is falling behind on HOA fees, which are historically difficult to track. With the new service, lenders can identify potential defaults or troubled modifications months before the borrower misses a mortgage payment.

Fannie Mae announced Tuesday that it is beefing up incentives to encourage sales of its HomePath REO properties to owner occupants. Selling agents representing an owner occupant buyer will get a $1,200 bonus. At the same time, qualified homebuyers can receive up to 3.5 percent of the final sales price to put toward closing costs. Eligible offers may be submitted any time after June 14, 2011 but must close by October 31, 2011. As of the end of March, Fannie's single-family REO inventory stood at 153,224 properties.

CitiMortgage and the North Texas Housing Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving and increasing affordable, working class housing in North Texas, are hosting a free homeowner assistance event in Dallas for distressed homeowners Tuesday. Part of the Citi Road to Recovery Homeowner Assistance series, the event is open to all homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments.

Ruling in favor of Avelo Mortgage, an appellate court in California declared Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) a proper beneficiary on the deed of trust. Citing an earlier decision involving Countrywide, Judge David Milton ruled that MERS has the authority under California law to assign a deed of trust, and that borrower agreements make it clear MERS, as nominee of the lender, has the right to exercise any interest on the lender's behalf, including the right to foreclose and sell the property.

The nation's Capitol stands out as the ""shining star"" in nearly every market report that crosses the wire. Washington, D.C. has consistently resisted home price declines, sales activity bucks widespread trends, and foreclosure numbers, too, have been almost non-existent due to an unofficial moratorium. Is it the absence of foreclosure property that's behind D.C.'s defiant market performance and will it turn now that emergency mediation rules have been enacted to restart foreclosures? Local experts say no, D.C. is just a market to itself.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued its third report to Congress Monday, detailing the regulator's 2010 annual examinations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The GSEs' losses last year totaled $28 billion, versus $94 billion in 2009. The amount of taxpayer support needed by the two mortgage giants also narrowed, but FHFA says both Fannie and Freddie remain ""critical supervisory concerns,"" primarily because of continuing credit losses from loans originated during 2005 through 2007.