REO

Integra Group Real Estate LLC announced Thursday the creation of its affiliate company, Integra Property Management.

The US economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday in its third estimate of economic performance in the first quarter. The BEA report was consistent with market expectations but emphasized a moribund economy.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell to 387,000 for the week ended June 23, from the prior week's 392,000, (revised from the originally reported 387,000) the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected the report would show 386,000 initial claims.

When hearing about the different narratives on the housing crisis, oftentimes the private sector is largely blamed. During an event hosted by The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Wednesday, a recently published book was discussed which highlights a different perspective on the story of the housing market crash. Oonagh McDonald, a UK-based academic, wrote the book titled ""Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Turning the American Dream Into A Nightmare"" and asserts that the failures in the housing industry started with 'affordable housing ideology,' and was worsened by policy makers and the GSEs.

In Pro Teck Valuation Services' June Home Value Forecast report, Phoenix was used as an example to argue the point that some of the hardest hit markets have ""overshot on the downside."" The real estate valuation company looked at two traditional appraisal methods for determining property values: replacement cost and income capitalization. Based on these two factors, Pro Teck concluded that home prices in certain markets are selling at prices which are actually way below their replacement costs and the rental yields.

The New Jersey State Senate approved on Monday a bill allowing towns to buy foreclosed vacancies to resell or rent them out as housing units. The bill also establishes the New Jersey Foreclosure Relief Corp., which would have the ability to purchase, sell, or rent foreclosed homes.

San Diego County is in for a second wave of foreclosures, and this time, it will be even bigger than before, according to Blue Sky Capital, a San Diego-based real estate investment firm. Blue Sky Capital tracked area properties and found that mortgages funded with Option Arm and Alt-A are about to see higher interest rates.

The Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes rose for the first time in eight months in April, Standard & Poor's reported Tuesday The 10- and 20-city indexes each rose 1.3 percent, to the highest levels this year. Year-over-year, the 10-city index was down 2.2 percent and the 20-city index off 1.9 percent, both improving from March.

Home price purchases were mixed month-over-month in May, with non-distressed prices up and short sales down, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. From April to May, transactions reported by HousingPulse survey respondents revealed the average price for non-distressed properties rose 1.7 percent, while the average price for short sales fell 0.7 percent. For damaged REOs, the average price went up 1.8 percent and for move-in ready REOs, the average price dropped 1.5 percent.

Looking for a beach home? Perhaps not, but according to a report released by RealtyTrac, certain beach towns offer sizeable discounts that make vacation dream homes seem a little bit more accessible. Using home sales prices for distressed properties in the first quarter of 2012, the real estate database company ranked the top 10 beach towns to buy foreclosures in its June 2012 Foreclosure News Report. The top four beach towns had discounts averaging at least 20 percent compared to prices for non-distressed properties, and the top two had prices averaging less than $100,000.