REO

Overall, major subprime servicers improved their ability to limit losses on delinquent loans in the second quarter, according to the Servicer Dashboard report from Moody's Investors Service. Moody's uses a cash flow efficiency metric to measure how much cash a servicer collects relative to losses. The report revealed that the cash flow efficiency metric increased for subprime servicers, rising from 0.27 in Q1 to 0.29 in Q2, the highest level obtained over the past five quarters.

Residential mortgage servicer Vericrest Financial, Inc., announced Thursday that it has relocated its Texas Center of Excellence from Dallas to Irving, Texas. Vericrest's Texas center houses the company's corporate functions, as well as asset management, business development, technology, and servicing operations. The company says its plans for future expansion could create potentially hundreds of new jobs.

After acquiring 94 single-family properties in Chicago, The Cogsville Group, LLC has selected FirstService Residential Realty Inc. to manage its rental properties.

Completed foreclosures continued their progressive decline, and foreclosure inventory fell to its lowest level since April 2010, CoreLogic reported Thursday. In August 2012, 57,000 homes were lost to foreclosure, down from 58,000 in July and 75,000 a year ago. The yearly decrease represents a 24 percent decline. While the national numbers are down, certain states are still seeing a high number of foreclosures, with five states accounting for 48.1 percent of all completed foreclosures.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance edged up by 4,000 to 367,000 for the week ended September 29, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week's report was revised upward to 363,000 first-time claims from the originally reported 359,000.

The real estate software provider eBrokerHouse is making its transaction management and offer submission platform available for free to real estate agents. The free version of eBrokerHouse has all the capabilities to work for the vast majority of agents. High-volume list agents and teams that need more flexibility can easily upgrade to a paid membership and remove the few restrictions of the free account.

Foreclosure inventory continues to decline but remains more than eight times what it was in the decade prior to the housing crisis, according to the latest report from Lender Processing Services (LPS). Noncurrent loans make up 10.9 percent of all loans as of August, demonstrating a year-over-year change of -7.6 percent, according to LPS. As of August, the delinquency rate stands at 6.9 percent, and the foreclosure rate is 4.0 percent. LPS also noted prepayment activity was up ""significantly"" in August, nearing levels last reported in 2005.

The Cogsville Group, LLC picked up 94 Fannie Mae foreclosures in Chicago through the Federal Housing Finance Agency's REO Initiative. The Cogsville Group is a private equity firm based in New York with a focus on distressed sales. The FHFA said in a release that all properties purchased through the program were sold near or above market value. The 94 properties sold included 111 units, 68 of which were occupied. FHFA also stated Fannie Mae will continue with bulk sales in markets with a strong demand for rental housing and a surplus of REO properties.

Home prices continued to trend upwards in August, posting both yearly and monthly gains for the sixth consecutive month, CoreLogic reported Tuesday. When including distressed sales, home prices in August rose 4.6 percent from a year ago, marking the biggest yearly gain since July 2006. Month-over-month, prices were up 0.3 percent from July to August. CoreLogic's Pending HPI points to further increases into September. Prices including distressed sales are expected to rise by 5 percent yearly and 0.3 percent monthly.

Home prices continued to reclaim lost ground in September, up 3.6 percent annually with increases recorded for every corner of the country, Clear Capital reported Tuesday. Improvements have been so strong, in fact, the real estate valuation firm says yearly growth is forecast to shake off winter's chill and continue through the first quarter of 2013. That is, if federal lawmakers can keep from squashing consumer confidence and agree on a resolution to the looming ""fiscal cliff"" that awaits at year-end without letting market uncertainties fester all the way up until the deadline.