REO

While the housing market has seen some recent positive signs, many still wonder when a true recovery will occur. Distressed real estate continues to hold a market-wide recovery at bay, and predicting a timeline for bringing distressed real estate to manageable levels is difficult at best. After tracking 5,021 properties that became distressed between April 2005 and July 2012, ProTek released a report detailing its observations. ProTek found more than 20 percent of properties remained distressed for more than five years, and LTV was found to be ""a key driver"" in the transition into foreclosure.

Vintage loans brought the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund to its knees in fiscal year 2012, but the agency insists it does not immediately need to draw from the Treasury. A review conducted by an independent actuary found that the capital reserve ratio of the MMI Fund fell below zero to negative 1.44 percent, representing a negative economic value of $16.3 billion.

Agents who sell HomeSteps homes, or Freddie Mac-owned residences, are eligible for winter bonuses. Freddie Mac announced it will pay a $1,000 bonus to a selling agent and $500 to listing agents as part of a winter promotion. The promotion lasts until February 28, 2013 and is applicable in 20 states. HomeSteps.com is the official site for GSE’s REOs.

The foreclosure inventory rate fell to 4.07 percent in Q3 to the lowest level since the first quarter of 2009, according to the latest delinquency survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). In addition, the national delinquency declined to 7.40 percent, and the serious delinquency rate fell to 7.03 percent. In a commentary, Capital Economics suggested the combination of fewer homes in foreclosure and seriously delinquent loans points to a decline in shadow inventory.

Foreclosure rates increased on a monthly basis in October but remain well below last year's levels, according to the latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac. Taking a closer look at market-level data, RealtyTrac found vast disparities in foreclosure activity across the nation. At a national level, foreclosures increased 3 percent in October, but they remain 19 percent lower than they were last October. In fact, despite the monthly increase, October is the third consecutive month in which an annual decrease in foreclosure starts took place.

Bank of America announced it's on track to fulfill consumer relief requirements as part of the national mortgage settlement within the first year of the three-year agreement. So far, the bank has completed or approved $15.8 billion in consumer relief for about 164,000 homeowners as of September 30. One form of consumer relief offered through the settlement is first-lien principal forgiveness, which BofA has offered to 30,000 customers, leading to $4.75 billion in principal reductions.

Carrington Property Services, LLC (Carrington) introduced a new network to help leading real estate brokerages further increase their business. Named the Carrington Property Network (CPN), the exclusive national network will help brokerage firms in two ways specific ways.

A specific provision in California's Homeowner Bill of Rights may have led to a surge in foreclosure cancellations, according to a report from ForeclosureRadar. Foreclosure cancellations in California spiked 62.1 percent from September to October and 36.7 percent over a one-year period, data from ForeclosureRadar revealed. The jump from September to October is the largest monthly increase since the data provider began tracking foreclosures in September 2006.

Dawn O'Connor has just joined Energy REO Solutions as the company's president. In this role, she will manage and lead all operations from the company's headquarters in Minnesota. A 30-year veteran of the mortgage banking industry, O'Connor was previously VP of default operations for Nationstar Mortgage.

Demand in the single-family rental market continues to expand even as inventory tightens, according to the latest MarketPulse report from CoreLogic. Comparing lease rates, supply, pricing, and the ratio between bid prices and asking prices clearly demonstrates an increasingly tightening market. Currently, the greatest amount of growth is occurring in North Port, Florida; Cape Coral, Florida; and Honolulu.