REO

Foreclosures are claiming a smaller share of the Phoenix sales market. The ratio has dropped for three straight months, according to a new report from Arizona State University's business school. In May, foreclosures represented about 35 percent of existing-home transactions in the Phoenix area, down from 43 percent earlier in the year. Still, the university's real estate professor says he's doubtful foreclosures will cease to be the dominant force in the market. More than 3,500 foreclosures occurred in the Phoenix metro last month.

Third-party investors are reselling foreclosure properties they've scooped up at auction at a rapid pace in states along the country's Western seaboard. In fact, they're moving distressed homes faster than lenders, according to a local tracking firm. ForeclosureRadar says the resell timeframe for foreclosure investors has dropped throughout its five-state coverage area. The company says it's partially due to spring selling activity, but more to do with a lack of quality, affordable homes for sale as a result of foreclosure delays.

Fannie Mae announced Tuesday that it is beefing up incentives to encourage sales of its HomePath REO properties to owner occupants. Selling agents representing an owner occupant buyer will get a $1,200 bonus. At the same time, qualified homebuyers can receive up to 3.5 percent of the final sales price to put toward closing costs. Eligible offers may be submitted any time after June 14, 2011 but must close by October 31, 2011. As of the end of March, Fannie's single-family REO inventory stood at 153,224 properties.

The nation's Capitol stands out as the ""shining star"" in nearly every market report that crosses the wire. Washington, D.C. has consistently resisted home price declines, sales activity bucks widespread trends, and foreclosure numbers, too, have been almost non-existent due to an unofficial moratorium. Is it the absence of foreclosure property that's behind D.C.'s defiant market performance and will it turn now that emergency mediation rules have been enacted to restart foreclosures? Local experts say no, D.C. is just a market to itself.

According to a notice from Fannie Mae, all future foreclosures in Hawaii must be commenced as judicial foreclosures due to Hawaii's recently passed legislation, SB 651. In addition, the GSE directed servicers to dismiss and convert all pending Fannie Mae non-judicial foreclosures that have not proceeded to sale to judicial foreclosures. Some recent REO acquisitions may also need to be re-foreclosed due to potential title insurance issues.

Florida Realtors president, Patricia Fitzgerald, was in Canada last week with Gov. Rick Scott and other business leaders to encourage Canadian companies to do business in Florida, a move expected to benefit the state's troubled real estate markets. Fitzgerald notes that a large percentage of Florida property sales each year are to international buyers, with Canadians making up 36 percent of all international property sales in the Sunshine State.

Freddie Mac announced new leadership this week for its three lines of business, including its new single-family and operations and technology unit. The new division consolidates previously separated single-family business lines as well as the technology unit. Anthony Renzi has been named EVP to head up the new division. In addition, David Brickman was named SVP in charge of the multifamily division, Carol Wambeke was promoted to SVP and chief compliance officer, and Devajyoti Ghose will assume the roles of SVP of the investments and capital markets division and company treasurer.

Clear Capital sees signs of market stability as we move into the summer months. New data released Thursday by the company shows that U.S. home prices continue to fall, but the 2.3 percent drop recorded for the three months ending in May was half the decline seen in the previous month's report. Clear Capital says the median price paid for distressed properties has started to rise, indicating the REO market is seeing increased activity toward the upper end of the price range and helping to rein in the depreciating trend of the past several months.

Delinquency rates among different groups of commercial and multifamily mortgage investors were mixed in the first quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports. Delinquency loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) reached their highest level since 1997, but MBA says the climb was slower than in recent quarters. On the other hand, delinquency rates for other investors, including Fannie and Freddie, remain below levels seen in the last major real estate downturn - some by large margins.

The Mississippi Legislature has approved a measure that defines the acceptable uses of broker price opinions (BPOs) to estimate the price of residential real estate property and provides greater clarity to real estate professionals on the preparation and delivery of BPOs in the state. The Broker Price Opinion Act has been signed into law by Gov. Haley Barbour and becomes effective July 1. As the basis for its BPO regulations, the state officially recognized and adopted the BPO Standards and Guidelines (BPOSG) from the BPO Standards Board and the National Association of BPO Professionals.