REO

The long-awaited housing recovery is beginning to blossom, according to industry experts taking a look at recent existing-home sales data. While admitting home sales are ""still very low,"" the chief economist at Capital Economics says it is clear the housing recovery is now well underway. The evidence: home sales have been on the rise for the past three months, posting a 5 percent increase in December, according to the latest market study released by the National Association of Realtors.

Government officials are in the process of reviewing 4,000-plus recommendations for turning repossessed homes into rental properties in order to trim the REO inventory held by federal housing agencies. The administration says it is pursuing potential ideas for REO-to-rental pilot programs ""with a sense of urgency,"" but two California firms don't plan to wait on the government's involvement. Carrington Holding Company and Oaktree Capital have partnered to buy up $450 million in REOs and convert them into rentals.

Clayton Holdings LLC announced Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of Green River Capital. No financial details were disclosed. Green River has a staff of approximately 200 and a nationwide network of more than 5,000 real estate brokers, providing REO, short sale, and BPO services to investor, financial institution, and GSE clients. Green River will continue to operate as a standalone business, under its current brand and led by its current management team.

The overall median sales price of existing homes in Orlando, Florida, was $115,000 in November, up 9.52 percent from a year earlier. The Orlando Regional Realtor Association attributes the gain to an increase in short sales, which are now changing hands with smaller discounts. The number of short sale transactions in November 2011 jumped 39.38 percent compared to November 2010, while the median price of short sales improved by 7.07 percent to $106,000.

A study from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that vacant properties rose 51 percent over the span of a decade, from nearly 7 million in 2000 to 10 million in April 2010. Ten states saw vacancies go up by 70 percent or more as a result of high foreclosure rates. The elevated number of vacant homes carries a hefty price tag for lenders that must resume ownership after foreclosure, but GAO says it's local governments that are feeling ""significant"" pressure from the rise in vacant properties.

Despite a decade-long trend making winter the slowest homebuying season for the Las Vegas area, the region saw an increase in existing home sales for the month of December, finishing the year strong enough to break the metro's yearly existing-home sale record from 2009, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. The 2009 record was set with the sale of 46,879 homes, and 2011 surpassed this milestone with 48,186 sales. REOs made up 46 percent of December's transactions. Short sales accounted for nearly 27 percent.

LRES Corporation has teamed up with Veterans Lender Services to form a new partnership known as VLS/LRES. As the first nationwide minority and service disabled veteran-owned asset management joint venture, it will provide financial institutions with asset disposition solutions that provide jobs and market defaulted and foreclosed properties as affordable homeownership opportunities to the underserved first-time military, veterans, and minority communities.

Keystone Asset Management, Inc., based in Colmar, Pennsylvania, recently earned the designation of being LEED Certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, which verifies environmental performance, occupant health, and financial return. Keystone's certification was earned based on its adoption of environmentally friendly practices and materials. ""We are proud to be a contributor of green standards in the business environment,"" said Jane Hennessy, Keystone's president and CEO.

With Atlanta as the exception, all of the metro areas on RealtyTrac's top 20 list for foreclosure rates in 2011 demonstrated declines in foreclosure activity from both of the previous two years. Foreclosure filings in the Atlanta area in 2011 were 2 percent higher than in 2009. Half of the metros in RealtyTrac's list of top 20 foreclosure rates for 2011 were located in California. Las Vegas had the highest foreclosure rate last year among metro areas with populations of at least 200,000.

RealtyTrac's year-end report released Thursday shows foreclosure filings - including default, auction, and bank repossession notices - were reported on 1,887,777 U.S. properties in 2011. Of that total, 804,423 homes were taken back by lenders as REO. Last year's tally of nearly 1.9 million properties with a foreclosure filing seems staggering, but it's actually the lowest reported since 2007. It's 34 percent below 2010, 33 percent below 2009, and 19 percent below the 2008 total.