REO

Milestone Asset Resolution Company, a diversified financial services management firm, announced several changes last week regarding the expansion of its business operations following a corporate investment from Oaktree Investment Holdings. Oaktree will acquire a non-controlling equity position in the company, and going forward, Milestone will be known as Sabal Financial Group.

Wells Fargo and Bank of America recently joined Fannie Mae, HUD, and JP Morgan Chase as revitalization and demolition partners to the Cleveland-based Cuyahoga Land Bank, which works to alleviate foreclosure and home abandonment in Cuyahoga County. Both lenders plan to donate vacant and foreclosed low-asset properties to the land bank with monetary contributions for demolition costs to help eliminate neighborhood blight and increase local property values.

Home prices in the U.S. rose in May, marking the second straight month of gains, according to CoreLogic. The company says national home prices, including distressed sales, increased 0.8 percent. CoreLogic asserts that the spring buying season has brought with it more demand for non-distressed properties, which has contributed to the short-term gains in prices. Some are holding out hope that the consistent upticks are evidence the five-year long decline in prices may be drawing to a close.

Been waiting for the spring homebuying season to hit? According to a new industry report released Wednesday, it may be settling in. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says contracts in place for sales of existing homes rose 8.2 percent in May compared to the trade group's upwardly revised reading for April and are 13.4 percent higher than in May 2010. NAR's latest reading marks the first time since April 2010 that contract activity has come in above year-ago levels.

There were 4,084,557 mortgages in the United States 90 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure as of the end of May, according to Lender Processing Services (LPS). With foreclosure sales at 78,676 at month end, the volume of seriously past due loans over-shadowed the number of completed foreclosures by 50 to 1. In fact, LPS says there are still significantly fewer foreclosure sales than there were before foreclosure moratoria were put into place last fall. The biggest drops have been seen along the East Coast.

California-headquartered Kinecta Federal Credit Union now provides its brokers and business partners with HomePath mortgages from Fannie Mae. HomePath is the GSE's venture for marketing and selling REO properties, and it offers special financing terms for the purchase of select Fannie Mae-owned properties. Currently, Kinecta is the only approved credit union in California and one of only five in the nation to offer HomePath mortgages.

Northlight Financial LLC, a New York-based manager of private equity debt investments, has announced the formation of a limited partnership, Northlight LP. The fund will provide asset-backed loans to middle market companies, acquire whole loans in the secondary market, and purchase distressed assets in the commercial, industrial, and real estate sectors. It will initially deploy $100 million in capital.

The closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller index showed its strongest positive movement since last summer with the release of Tuesday's report. The analysts at Standard & Poor's described the news as a ""welcome shift from recent months."" While it may fuel cautious optimism that at least a short-range upward trend is already in the making, industry experts and market analysts put the latest numbers into context and share their views on what to expect in the months ahead.

One month after reporting its home price gauge had officially double dipped, Standard & Poor's says prices have inched up, in line with the expected seasonal boost that accompanies the spring buying season. The 20-city composite reading of the S&P/Case-Shiller index posted a 0.7 percent increase in April versus March. It's the first monthly gain in eight months, but the index remains 4.0 percent below April 2010. Looking at the monthly movement, even in the midst of the spring season, it wasn't all up and up. Six of the 20 metros showed new index lows in April.

Carrington Property Services, LLC, a residential asset management company, recently restructured its operations to increase its capabilities in residential asset management services, a move expected to benefit lenders and servicers. The company has realigned its operations into three primary divisions - rental, REO administration, and centralized services.