REO

While foreclosure inventory showed a year-over-year decline for January 2012, REO inventory held by servicers grew faster in January than the pace at which REO properties sold, according to CoreLogic's National Foreclosure Report for January 2012. The distressed clearing ratio, which calculates the rate at which REO properties are sold, was 0.69 for January 2012, down from 0.80 in December 2011. A higher ratio indicates a faster pace of REO sales relative to the pace of completed foreclosures. On a year-over-year basis, the number of foreclosures actually dropped, going from 80,000 in January 2011 to 69,000 in January 2012, according to CoreLogic's National Foreclosure Report.

Depending on whether the data was based on a judicial or non-judicial state, foreclosure activity told differing stories in RealtyTrac's Foreclosure Market Report released today for February 2012. When clumping states together based on foreclosure processes, February foreclosure activity in the 26 judicial states increased 24 percent from February 2011 and 2 percent from the previous month of January. For the 24 non-judicial states, the numbers moved in near opposite directions, with foreclosure activity decreased to 23 percent from February 2011 and down 5 percent from January, according to a RealtyTrac release.

While homes prices continue to be on the decline, rent prices are actually on the rise and showed a 3 percent increase from January 2011 to January 2012, as opposed to home values, which dropped 4.6 percent during that same period, according to the January Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. Zillow data also showed year-over-year gains for 69.2 percent of metropolitan areas covered by the index while only 7.3 percent of metros saw increases in home values. Based on the Zillow Rent Index, the states with the greatest increases in median rent over a year were New Jersey (+16.5), New York (+13.7), Kansas (+10.2), Indiana (+10), and Michigan (+10.0).

For West coast states, the foreclosure wave is reported to be dying down as third parties, who are typically investors, snatch up foreclosed homes, according to the February 2012 Foreclosure RadarReport. While third party sales were down month-over-month, as a percentage of all sales, third parties purchased 37.6 percent of foreclosures. Compared to the year before, foreclosure sales to third parties increased 84.62 percent in Oregon, 61.33 percent in Nevada, 39.72 percent in California, 23.31 percent in Arizona, and 7.35 percent for Washington.

The Association of Mortgage Investors (AMI) says the $25 billion settlement signed by the five largest servicers is expected to draw billions of dollars from uninvolved investors, which include seniors and unions. While HUD acknowledges the settlement could affect some investor-owned loans, the agency stated that when considering the projected losses from foreclosures on investors, applying loan modifications, including principal reductions, will actually cost less. AMI, on the other hand, fears the cost of improperly applied modifications will lead to re-defaults.

The $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement agreement was filed in federal court Monday, according to an announcement from the Justice Department, HUD, and 49 state attorneys general. The court documents provide details of the servicers' financial obligations under the agreement, which include payments to foreclosed borrowers, more than $20 billion in consumer relief, and new servicing standards that will change foreclosure practices and policies for foreclosure prevention.

Increasing struggles for office properties, most notably in Atlanta, overshadowed what was otherwise a flat February for delinquencies among loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), according to the latest index results from Fitch Ratings. By the agency's assessment, CMBS late-pays fell two basis points last month to 8.30 percent. The decline was led by a large hotel loan - Innkeepers - that was brought current. Fitch's delinquency index includes 2,536 loans totaling $32.6 billion.

Freddie Mac reported a gain in the fourth quarter and less losses overall for the year 2011 compared to the previous year, according to the GSE's fourth quarter and year 2011 report released today. Freddie Mac reported a net income of $619 million for the 2011 fourth quarter. During the third quarter ending September 30, 2011, a net loss of $4.4 billion was reported. Freddie Mac will request $146 million from the U.S. Treasury for the company's fourth quarter net worth deficit.

A multiple listing service (MLS) based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida is requiring real estate agents to disclose if a property they are listing is bank-owned. The requirement was reported on Inman News March 7, following another story published March 4 on Palm Beach Post that revealed some banks are not wanting agents to tell if a property is indeed bank-owned.

The nation added 227,000 jobs in February - the seventh straight month of 100,000-plus payroll gains, the longest such string since 2005 - as the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Economists had anticipated about 210,000 new jobs and a slight uptick in the unemployment rate. The strong report continued a positive trend with just a smattering of weak spots: retail employment dropped slightly and construction jobs declined, hinting that gains in construction in recent months were related to mild weather.