News

Moody's Investors Service says it expects home price appreciation to be ""soft"" for the next couple of years. The company says there were 1.8 million more vacant homes sitting on the market than what is considered the norm at the end of the second quarter, reflecting a rise in the number of homes that lenders are repossessing. According to Moody's, it will not be until 2012 that demand and supply conditions are balanced enough to drive price appreciation that matches the pace of inflation.

In a rare break from what has been the norm throughout the recession, this weekend saw no bank closings. Since January 2008, more than 280 banks and thrifts have collapsed, most as a direct result of problems in the real estate markets. The research firm Foresight Analytics estimates that 200, and possibly 300 to 400, banks are at risk of failure over the next 12 to 24 months, but the company says a number of community banks have begun to shed some of their problem commercial real estate loans.

Marix Servicing LLC, a Phoenix, Arizona-based specialty mortgage servicer, will be acquired by Walter Investment Management Corp. through an agreement with Marix's parent company Marathon Asset Management. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the next 30 to 60 days, will create one of the nation's top 10 servicers of subprime mortgages.

Freddie Mac released the results of its second quarter Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index (CMHPI) Monday. The index measures property values based on home loans originated in Q2 and purchased by Freddie and its sibling mortgage financier Fannie Mae. The CMHPI Purchase-Only Series for the United States registered a 3.1 percent increase in the second quarter relative to the first quarter. For the first time since the second quarter of 2009, prices rose in all nine Census divisions.

Accounting firms Eisner LLP and Amper, Politziner & Mattia, LLP, recently merged to create EisnerAmper LLC's real estate group, doubling the size of the firm's real estate practice. The New York-based firm is now the largest non-Big 4 firm in the greater New York metropolitan region and the 14th largest in the nation. The company now offers developers, property owners and managers, and others in the industry a broader array of professional services.

After a worse than expected falloff in home sales during the month of July, buzz about a possible revival of the federal homebuyer tax credit has begun to surface. Sales of previously owned homes plummeted 27 percent last month, hitting their lowest mark in 15 years. New home sales also took a dive, dropping nearly 13 percent. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan says the July numbers were worse than was expected and are cause for concern, and he's not ruling out a return of the tax credit incentives.

Fannie Mae is implementing a new policy this week regarding home appraisals. Beginning Wednesday, lenders will be prohibited from making changes to appraisers' valuations - a practice that has become more widespread and is commonly referred to as ""appraisal cutting."" Fannie officials say they have identified cases where the lender reduced the opinion of market value in the appraisal report based upon underwriter judgment or automated valuation models, prompting the GSE to place a ban on so-called appraisal cutting.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) offered the industry a ray of hope when it reported Thursday that foreclosure starts were down nearly 10 percent in Q2, but the brightness quickly faded when Lender Processing Services (LPS) released its own dataset. MBA's numbers were based on data through the end of June. LPS reports that by the end of July, foreclosure starts had jumped back up by 24.5 percent. It's the fourth highest level ever recorded by the company.

All eyes were on Jackson Hole, Wyoming Friday, as leaders of the world's central banks convened for an annual retreat in the small, quiet town along the Teton mountain range. The most anticipated attraction - Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, as market analysts, economists, and Wall Street looked for some semblance of the Fed's plan to deal with the nation's lukewarm economic recovery. Bernanke insisted that he doesn't believe the U.S. will revert into another recession, but he promised to react swiftly if the recovery doesn't pick up.

The percentage of home loans 90 or more days past due held by the nation's two largest mortgage companies has declined yet again. Fannie Mae's single-family serious delinquency rate has fallen to 4.99 percent. It's the fourth straight month that Fannie has reported a decline. Freddie Mac's serious delinquencies dropped to 3.89 percent, the fourth decrease in five months. The reciprocated declines seem a welcome herald, but researchers say they're merely the consequence of an increase in GSE foreclosures.