News

Marking the fourth consecutive week of declines, mortgage rates inched down once again this week, both Freddie Mac and Bankrate reported Thursday. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, rates for 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 4.98 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending January 28, 2010, down 0.01 percent from last week. Compared to the same week last year, rates are down 0.12 percent.

Treasury said Thursday that it will begin requiring servicers to obtain all required documentation upfront, prior to evaluating a borrower for a trial plan under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) - an about-face from the current process where trial mods can be initiated based on stated, not verified, income. Treasury officials also fielded speculation that they might make principal reduction a more central component of the program. They currently have no plans to address negative equity under HAMP, but called it a ""serious policy concern.""

Technology provider Equator has announced the launch of its new agent-initiated short sale feature, which gives agents the ability to request a short sale on behalf of their homeowner clients, initially bypassing the lender to open up the process on their own. The company says agent initiation makes the progression easier for both the borrower and the lender, and brings short sales to fruition in dramatically less time.

Ellie Mae announced Wednesday that Stephanie Berger, the company's director of e-mortgage solutions, has been appointed to the Mortgage Bankers Association's MISMO (Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization) residential governance committee.

In an effort to rebuild communities devastated by the foreclosure crisis, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has partnered with the National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST), a nonprofit organization that facilitates the transfer of foreclosed and abandoned properties from financial intuitions to local housing organizations. The collaboration will bring more than 1,400 state and local Realtor associations into a side-by-side relationship with nonprofits and state and local leaders to develop targeted plans to bring stabilization to struggling neighborhoods.

Cities in the Sun Belt continue to post the nation's highest foreclosure rates. According to a year-end report released by RealtyTrac Thursday, four states accounted for all top 20 metro foreclosure rates in 2009. Las Vegas, Nevada registered the nation's highest rate - more than 12 percent. California claimed nine of the 20 metros with the highest percentage of foreclosures. Florida was home to eight, with the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metro area in Arizona also landing a spot on the list.

Aklero Process Solutions, Inc., a provider of data and document validity assurance for the mortgage industry, recently announced the hire of Joe Klimowicz as chief technology officer. Klimowicz will be responsible for driving the development of the company's technology solutions and delivering best-in-class services to customers.

Starting this summer, Realtors will have access to an online real estate library with data on every property in the United States. Dubbed the Realtors Property Resource, this new tool is a project by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), and gives practitioners access to tax and assessment data; neighborhood, school, and demographic information; and maps and trends.

Lincoln Shores, a 631-unit apartment property in St. Petersburg, Florida, was recently acquired in a joint venture by Charleston, South Carolina-based Greystar Real Estate Partners and The Praedium Group, headquartered in New York. ""We are pleased to be entering into our first joint venture with Greystar, an exceptionally experienced and dynamic organization, and we look forward to future opportunities with them,"" said David Dowell, VP at Praedium.

The Federal Reserve offered its most upbeat economic outlook in nearly a year at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting Wednesday, but again voted to maintain the benchmark federal funds rate at near-zero. Policymakers also made it clear that they are sticking to their plan of pulling back from the secondary market, with the program to purchase mortgage-backed securities (MBS) coming to a close on March 31, as scheduled.