REO

Following two consecutive months of increases, existing-home sales fell slightly from April to May but were significantly higher than year-ago levels, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. According to NAR's study, existing-home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.66 million units in May, down 2.2 percent from April. However, closings were 19.2 percent above the year-ago level. The national median price for pre-owned homes rose to $179,600, up 2.7 percent from last year.

The analytics firm CoreLogic released its Home Price Index Monday, which shows that residential values in the United States rose in April on an annual basis -- the second consecutive monthly increase. The company reported that home prices, including distressed sales, were up 2.6 percent compared to April 2009. Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices increased by 2.2 percent, which seems to signal that distressed properties now are not as heavily discounted as they were a year ago and are closing the price gap between traditional, non-distressed homes.

Pacific Engineering Management Company (PEMCO) in Honolulu has been awarded five asset manager contracts under the third generation of HUD's management and marketing program. PEMCO has been managing HUD's residential real estate program for more than 10 years and said its latest award represents the largest territory for the company to date, as it encompasses 26 different states in five regions across the country.

While loans restructured under the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) have been highly criticized for their propensity to re-default, the analysts at Barclays Capital say newly modified mortgages stand a better chance of staying current. New data also suggests that foreclosure-to-REO roll rates are ticking up while delinquency rates have peaked, signaling that servicers' efforts have caught up to market conditions and they're making progress working through the foreclosure backlog.

Analysis by Altos Research shows that home prices in most major U.S. cities have broken free of the downward spiral. The company's 10-city composite index was up 0.2 percent in May - the first monthly increase recorded by Altos in nine months. Another positive, Altos says readings of weekly price changes have continued to show modest seasonal increases for the past seven weeks, indicating that traditional home price metrics will soon show increases as well.

Distressed commercial real estate is being reclaimed by lenders at a rapid pace, but relatively few assets are being marketed and re-sold. According to the research firm Real Capital Analytics, lenders acquired some $10 billion of commercial property during the first five months of this year -- via foreclosure or negotiated settlement. But they disposed of just $2.6 billion of commercial REO during the same period, even though there is a large amount of ready capital eager to acquire these assets.

REO properties continue to flood the market, but the process to submit an offer on one can be extremely confusing. According to industry statistics, more than half of all offers submitted on REO properties never get a response. And many never even get a glance from a decision maker because the system is so clogged and disorganized. In an effort to resolve all this confusion, Woodward Asset Capital created OfferSubmisssion.com, a new technology system aiming to streamline the REO sales process and make sure every offer is viewed and responded to within one day

Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS) announced this week that it has completed a planned transition of the company's day-to-day management. Ryan Tomazin, formerly the company's CFO and COO, has moved into the role of president of IAS. As part of this transition, Dave McCarthy, who founded IAS in 1995, will be stepping down as CEO of the company.

Foreclosure activity in California is beginning to trend downward. The locally-based tracking firm ForeclosureRadar says its statistics dropped last month for every stage of the foreclosure process, with new defaults down more than 17 percent. It's the second straight month that the company has recorded across-the-board declines. But ForeclosureRadar remains cautious in its analysis, noting that many distressed homeowners have simply vacated the property and thrown in the towel on modifying their loan or completing a short sale.

Williams Title Guaranty and Escrow Agency, Ltd., a Colorado-based firm offering sale and mortgage services for both residential and commercial real estate, recently announced that the company has expanded is geographic reach to include all 50 states in the United States. Prior to June 1, Williams Title offered title and escrow services in Colorado and Florida only.