News

Mortgage rates across the board fell this week, amid concerns of a weakening labor market and rising unemployment numbers. It was the second week in a row of declines, with the average rate for 30-year mortgages hitting its lowest level in six weeks.

The number of bank-owned property sales in Rhode Island has ballooned to nearly 20 percent of single-family home sales transactions so far in 2009, according to a new report from The Warren Group, a real estate research firm covering the New England area.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has awarded more than $682,000 to 25 local and state Realtor associations across the country through its Foreclosure Prevention and Response grant program. The grants help Realtor boards develop and fund local foreclosure deterrence initiatives.

According to new figures released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), pending home sales show a sustained uptrend, rising for four consecutive months. NAR says more affordable conditions for purchasing a home and the first-time buyer tax credit have boosted activity.

A new report from the Boston branch of the U.S. central bank warns that servicers have been reluctant to renegotiate mortgages since the foreclosure crisis started in 2007. No matter whether the workout takes the form of a payment lowering modification, capitalizing repayment plan, short sale, or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, the Federal Reserve economists who spearheaded the research concluded that quite often, lenders expect to recover more from foreclosure than from a modified loan.

The city of Baltimore launched a relentless campaign back in January of last year against one of the nation’s largest banks, Wells Fargo. Baltimore is suing Wells Fargo under the Fair Housing Act for reverse redlining, meaning the bank allegedly targeted black neighborhoods in Baltimore for predatory residential mortgage loans.

California’s PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. said Tuesday that it expects home prices to continue falling through the first quarter of 2011 in more than half of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell signed a pair of bills last week aimed at combating mortgage fraud in the state. According to a statement from the governor’s office, the new laws were written to strengthen communication between homeowners and their lenders and encourage employees at mortgage companies to report illegal activity.

The Washington, D.C.-based trade organization American Land Title Association (ALTA) released its Title Insurance Industry Market Share and Financial Statement for the first quarter of 2009 last week.

Newport Beach, California-based BigBidder.com, an online auction platform for mortgage notes, recently announced that the company has reached an important milestone – the sale of more than $100 million in individual loan notes.