News

As DSNews.com reported Friday, the congressional panel charged with overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program recently released an analysis of the commercial real estate market. According to the Real Estate Roundtable, a Washington, D.C.-based group bringing together leaders in the real estate industry, the report underscores the need for additional federal policy action to support economic recovery and stabilize commercial real estate markets.

Jones Lang LaSalle announced Monday that it has been selected in the leaders category for the 2010 Global Outsourcing 100, an annual ranking of high-quality service providers across all industries as determined by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). This marks the third time that Jones Lang LaSalle has been selected for the Global Outsourcing 100 list.

Service 1st Valuation and Settlement Service, Inc., an appraisal management company headquartered in Pittsburgh, announced Monday that it has entered into a partnership with Pittsburgh-based ValuAmerica, a provider of settlement services.

Trexglobal.com, a rental software developer headquartered in Fremont, California, recently announced the launch of an online property management portal that will provide property manager, landlords, and real estate professionals with easy access to information on managing real estate investments.

Moody's Investors Service is forecasting another 8 percent decline in home prices before a bottom in property values is reached. That's actually an improvement over previous estimates, but it's the duration of depreciation that's the headline grabber. Last month, Moody's analysts were predicting the price floor to be reached in the third quarter of this year. Now they say it won't be hit until the end of the fourth quarter, largely because of the ""underwhelming"" success of the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

Mutual of Omaha Bank, based in Omaha, Nebraska, was recently approved as a lead bank partner for Fannie Mae's acquisition, development, and construction (AD&C) financing program, a secondary market program in which Fannie Mae buys participation interests in construction loans originated by its lending partners.

Loans within commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) are transferring to special servicing in larger batches and with increasing speed, Fitch Ratings said in its weekly U.S. CMBS newsletter. Last month saw 248 loans totaling $4.27 billion move into special servicing. That figure is four times the balance that transferred in January of last year.

Through a partnership with Fannie Mae, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), an independent state authority that works with lenders to provide low-cost financing for housing and small business development, announced Friday that it has re-entered the affordable home loan market after more than a year of not funding single family loans.

As borrowers refinance their home loans, they are overwhelmingly choosing fixed-rate loans, Freddie Mac said in a report issued Monday. That probably comes as no surprise - homeowners see today's low fixed-rate as the preferred option over an adjustable rate that's going to jump in three years and dramatically raise the borrower's monthly obligation. What is surprising, though, is that more borrowers are going with a shorter term loan to get out from under their mortgage debt faster.

Las Vegas has the highest foreclosure rate of any metro in the country, but lenders there have become more willing to accept short sales as an alternative to foreclosure. The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR) reports that 21.1 percent of all existing-home sales in the area last month were short sales. GLVAR called it ""one of the more promising trends"" for the month.