News

The FDIC has approved a proposal that would change the way it determines how much banks pay for the agency's deposit insurance coverage. Since 1935, individual institutions' premiums have been based on the amount of their domestic deposits. The FDIC wants to amend the assessment scheme so that it is based on the bank's assets instead. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup could together hand over an estimated $1 billion annually in additional fees under the new structure.

Inventories of homes listed for sale are dwindling across the country, in some markets, significantly, according to Altos Research. Of the 26 major markets the company tracks, only three showed increases in inventory during the month of October - Las Vegas, Phoenix, and San Diego - and Altos described their increases as ""slight."" Washington, D.C. had the biggest decline in its supply of listed homes. While, typically, decreases in inventory are evidence of a leveling off, Altos says the potential impact of the so-called shadow inventory looms large.

The number of applications submitted by consumers for mortgage loans rose last week, as interest rates held low. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that applications for home purchases were up 5.5 percent from one week earlier, marking their third consecutive weekly increase. MBA's index for refinance applications also rose, jumping 6.0 percent from the previous week.

The number of homeowners with a mortgage that were underwater on their loan rose to nearly one-quarter - or 23.2 percent - in the third quarter, according to figures released Wednesday by the real estate data provider Zillow. With home values nationally 25 percent below their June 2006 peak, the current housing downturn is approaching Great Depression-era declines, when home values fell 25.9 percent in five years (between 1929 and 1933).

Default Resource has developed a new report that will inspect and oversee work performed by REO and short sale listing agents. The company sends out independent inspectors to listed REO homes to check that the home is properly maintained, has a lockbox in place, is listed correctly in the MLS, and to detail any hazardous conditions on the property. Default Resource says it allows servicers or investors to know at a glance how their real estate sales partners are performing.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has appointed Richard J. Hill as associate VP of industry technology. Hill's responsibilities include supporting the oversight of MBA's subsidiary, the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization Inc. (MISMO). Hill will also work directly with the association's commercial and residential technology committees and the research and government affairs staff on technology and data quality issues affecting the real estate finance industry.

Ambac Financial Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to an announcement issued by the company after the market closed on Monday. The company insured billions in subprime mortgage securities during the housing boom, but has taken hit after hit since the market collapsed. Ambac says it was unable to raise additional capital as an alternative and could not reach an agreement with its debt holders. The IRS has also been investigating Ambac's accounting practices related to $700 million in tax refunds.

During the third quarter, 2.7 percent of current mortgage balances transitioned into delinquency, according to the New York Federal Reserve. That's up from 2.6 percent that became newly delinquent in the second quarter. Fed officials called the increase ""slight"" but noted that the rise follows a full year of declines in new delinquencies. According to the federal bank's report, about 457,000 individuals received home foreclosure notices on their credit reports between July 1 and September 30, 2010.

Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) has released a statement responding to the accusation by Robert G. Marshall that the company violates a state law because it doesn't pay a fee when a loan changes hands. Marshall requested that Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli launch an investigation on the Reston, Virginia based MERS.

Residential property values fell 0.2 percent at the national level during the third quarter, according to Integrated Asset Services (IAS). In front of a seasonal slow-down in home sales, IAS says the data foreshadow ""particularly difficult times ahead"" for the housing market and for the U.S. economy. The company's report confirms that the nation's most devastated counties are showing no signs of bottoming. The robo-signing controversy is expected to slow the housing correction even further as banks hold back foreclosures.