REO

Altisource announced Monday the launch of Hubzu, an improved online residential real estate marketplace.

Appraisals may assign a home with one exact specific value, but in reality, a home's value tends to fall into a price range due to a number of different factors, according to a Home Value Forecast report released by Pro Teck Valuation Services and Collateral Analytics. To address this issue, Home Value Forecast suggests establishing a range of value in addition to an appraisal and improving data to support market condition conclusions.

A new state took the spotlight in RealtyTrac's Foreclosure Market Report for August. For the first time since January 2005, which is when RealtyTrac began the report, Illinois ranked number one for its foreclosure rate. Bank repossessed fewer properties in August, with REO activity declining 2 percent month-over-month and 19 percent year-over-year, marking the 22 month in a row of yearly declines.

First-time claims for unemployment jumped 15,000 to 382,000 for the week ended September 8, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Several states reported increases in initial claims, as a result of Tropical Storm Isaac, which increased the total by about 9,000.

After much anticipation, FHFA announced the first winning bidder for its REO bulk sale. San Diego-based Pacifica Companies, LLC, purchased 699 Fannie Mae properties in Florida through the REO pilot initiative. Out of the 699 properties, 506 were occupied units. In a release, the agency stated it will announce the winning investors for properties in other areas in the coming weeks when the transactions close.

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in August - the lowest level since April but the economy added just 96,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. According to BLS, 581,000 people left the labor force in August leading to the drop in the unemployment rate which nonetheless remained above the election-critical 8.0 percent. At the same time, July's job gains - originally reported at 163,000 - were reduced to 141,000 while June's job numbers dropped to 45,000 from 87,000.

To repair, or not to repair. That was the question posed to a number of panelists Thursday morning at the Five Star Conference and Expo. The panel featured a discussion between GSE and field asset representatives as they tried to help brokers and servicers tackle a common issue: Whether or not it's worth the investment to repair a home not in showcase condition.

While home prices remained little changed, the REO saturation rate fell for the first time this year, according to Clear Capital's Home Data Index Market report, which included data to the end of August. The REO saturation rate, which calculates the portion of REO sales relative to total sales, slipped 6.4 percentage points from the previous quarter to 20.5 percent. The drop is the lowest the REO saturation rate has been since April 2008.

While RealtyTrac found that the average foreclosure discount is 31.74 percent, found that the nationwide average for foreclosure discounts is 31.74 percent, there are some states that are much more generous. Foreclosure discounts include homes in foreclosure or properties that are bank-owned.

Prices went up for foreclosure-related sales on a quarterly and yearly basis, with the annual increase marking the first rise in two years, according to RealtyTrac's Q2 foreclosure sales report. The average price for foreclosure-related sales stood at $170,040, a 6 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 7 percent hike from the second quarter of 2011. The annual increase is the first since the second quarter of 2010 and the biggest yearly increase since the fourth quarter of 2006.