REO

The California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported today that, although pending home sales in the state fell from March to April, other statistics indicate a good start for the housing market. C.A.R.'s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) fell from a revised 138.9 in March to 128.0 in April. This index was nearly 14 points higher than the revised 114.4 index from April 2011, marking the 12th consecutive month that pending sales were higher year-over-year. Pending home sales figures are often used as an indicator of the market's future direction.

George B. Flessas intended to retire in the Philippines after selling his REO firm back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Instead of settling, living in a new country inspired him to start another venture due to a need he saw for a nationwide Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and the low cost to operate a business in the Philippines.

Existing-home sales rose to 4.62 million (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) in April from an downwardly revised March rate of 4.47 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Tuesday. Economists had forecast the April sales pace would be 4.66 million. The median price of an existing home climbed 10.1 percent to $177,400 from $161,100 in April 2011, the strongest year-to-year gain since January 2006. The median price in April reached its highest level since July 2010 when it was $182,100. The median price of an existing home rose month-to-month and year-to-year in all four regions.

Memphis Invest announced Monday that it has sold 229 homes to out-of-town, independent investors since January in a run-up to a recent investor weekend. Memphis Invest hosted the investor weekend May 11-13 in order to showcase local single-family rental properties and to demonstrate Memphis' strengths as a rental market.

When it comes to handling foreclosure inventory, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.) has made it clear it does not see the need for government intervention in its state. The association recently announced its support for California Congressmen Gary Miller (R-Brea) and seven California lawmakers for introducing legislation that calls for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to halt its plan to sell Fannie Mae REO properties to institutional investors through bulk sales in California.

Foreclosure filings - default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions - totaled 188,780 in April 2012, which is the lowest monthly total since July 2007, according to RealtyTrac's Foreclosure Market Report. April foreclosure activity also fell 5 percent from the previous month and was down 14 percent from a year ago in April. When analyzing foreclosure activity according to judicial processes, non-judicial states declined both yearly and monthly, while judicial states decreased monthly but not yearly.

The housing recovery will come in two phases. First, home prices will rise by just under 1 percent in the second half of 2012. In 2013, prices will rise by 1.5 percent, then go up another 2.5 percent in 2014. For the second phase, home prices will increase 3 to 3.5 percent between 2015 and 2017. These are the predictions from a report released by the Demand Institute, which is jointly operated by The Conference Board and Nielsen. The report, titled The Shifting Nature of U.S. Housing Demand, stated investors who buy rental properties will lead phase one of the recovery, as opposed to buyers who purchase properties as their own residence.

With vacant homes stretching the capacity of banks' balance sheets and homebuyer demand lackluster at best, short sales are becoming a top loss mitigation choice for private lenders and investors, particularly in especially hard-hit markets. According to Barclays Capital, the benefits of pursuing a short sale are compelling for servicers and investors who are able to liquidate delinquent loans in an expedited fashion with fewer payment and interest (P&I) advances and who take ""quasi"" possession of the property in better condition and at better prices than REO, lowering severities.

REO Allegiance, a national property preservation firm, recently announced that its president and CEO Lisa Sadaoui has been nominated and selected as a Leading Woman Entrepreneur and Business Owner of New Jersey by New Jersey Monthly Magazine. Nominees were selected for the award based on innovation, market potential, community involvement, and advocacy for women.

It will take 46 months to clear the market's supply of distressed homes, or the shadow inventory, according to estimates from Standard & Poor's Rating Services based on first-quarter 2012 data. While national residential mortgage liquidation rates appeared stable over the first three months of this year, these rates varied widely between local markets. Regional variations in how quickly servicers can clear the backlog of nonperforming loans are primarily due to differences in foreclosure procedures. S&P says its months-to-clear estimate in judicial states is almost 2.5x as long as non-judicial states.