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Florida Condo Financing Approvals by Fannie Mae Increase by 40%

Fannie Mae has approved 123 new Florida condos for financing in the first eight months of 2010, a 40 percent increase from 2009. It's an even bigger jump from 2008 when zero projects were accepted, according to the local consulting firm Condo Vultures. Florida's real estate crash has made financing difficult. Few lenders are originating new mortgages as prices drop and foreclosures increase, but Fannie Mae is attempting to reverse the financing issue with new ""special approval"" requirements specifically for Florida condominiums.

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Mortgage Demand Wanes Even as Interest Rates Head Lower

Mortgage application volume has fallen for the second straight week, led by a steep drop in home loan refinances even as mortgage interest rates edged downward again. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday that its measure of new mortgage applications decreased 8.9 percent for the week ending September 10, 2010. That follows a 1.5 percent drop in home loan applications the week prior.

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Mortgage Bankers’ Per-Loan Profit Jumps 51%

Independent mortgage bankers and subsidiaries made an average profit of $917 on each loan they originated in the second quarter of 2010, up from $606 per loan in the first quarter of 2010, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Tuesday. The increase was driven by a rise in the average production volume for each firm, as more loans for home purchases were written thanks to the federal government's tax credit incentive.

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Ocwen Pays Less Than Expected for HomEq

Ocwen Financial Corp. paid $1.196 billion for HomEq Servicing, 7.4 percent less than the Florida-based company had initially estimated. Ocwen says 134,000 home loans were transferred from HomEq and immediately boarded onto Ocwen's system on September 1. The reason for the reduction in the purchase price is that the unpaid principal balance of the boarded loans was $5.6 billion less than previously anticipated. Ocwen called it a ""normal runoff.""

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New Foreclosure Filings Up in California for Fourth Straight Month

California's notice of default filings, the first step in the state's foreclosure process, rose for the fourth successive month in August, jumping another 16.6 percent, according to the locally based tracking firm ForeclosureRadar. The company's latest data on the Golden State also show that fewer distressed homeowners are finding foreclosure relief, with cancellations down and foreclosure sales up. ForeclosureRadar has also expanded its coverage starting this month to include data on Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

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Survey Finds Cost of Housing in New Orleans Rose 33% After Katrina

HUD released a new survey of New Orleans area housing conditions this week. The agency says its the most comprehensive analysis of the metro's housing stock since the department's last assessment in 2004 (prior to Hurricane Katrina). In the five years since Hurricane Katrina struck the area, the New Orleans metro lost 75,000 housing units, nearly 13 percent of its housing stock, and the median monthly cost of housing rose by nearly 33 percent from $662 in 2004 to $882 in 2009.

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Mortgage Litigation Index Declines as Focus Shifts to Criminal Cases

The government has shifted its resources from civil to criminal mortgage-related cases in recent months. As a result, an industry index that tracks mortgage litigation lawsuits has dropped by more than half. Active cases totaled 75 in the second quarter, according to the report released this week. Activity tumbled 52 percent from the first quarter and was 40 percent lower than a year ago, as the U.S. Department of Justice executed its nationwide crackdown on mortgage fraud, dubbed Operation Stolen Dreams.

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Green River Capital Reports 30% Increase in Sales Figures

Green River Capital announced a 30 percent increase in sales figures during the first half of 2010 due to new clients and increased efficiencies. Since early 2010, the company has also increased REO assignments by nearly 8 percent from the same period in 2009 and decreased the time each property spends on the market by almost 15 percent compared to figures during the last 12 months.

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Fannie Mae Suspends California Housing Loan Insurance Fund

Earlier this year, the California Housing Loan Insurance Fund (CaHLIF) ceased writing new mortgage insurance policies. The insurance fund is administered by the California Housing Finance Agency. Effective immediately, Fannie Mae says it is suspending CaHLIF as an approved mortgage insurer.

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Lawmakers Continue to Push for Eradication of GSEs

The debate over what's next for the government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has begun. Last month, the Treasury invited a wide range of industry stakeholders to a summit in Washington to provide some guidance on the administration's proposal for GSE reform. The general consensus there was that the GSEs play too big a role in the housing market to make an abrupt exodus. A large group of House Republicans, though, don't share that view.

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