With the buy-now attitude fading, national home price reduction levels continued to decrease this month, according to a recent report by San Francisco-based Trulia, Inc., a real estate search engine. As of March 1, 19 percent of listings on the market had experienced at least one price cut, falling 10 percent from the previous month to the lowest level since Trulia began tracking price reductions in April 2009.

National Quick Sale announced Tuesday that it has entered into a business partnership agreement with real estate and mortgage services provider Hollander Financial Holding Inc. Through this venture, National Quick Sale plans to promote the use of its short sale platform's capabilities through Hollander's nationwide network of real estate professionals.

In an effort to attract buyers, home sellers in major cities throughout Florida are reducing prices by more than 10 percent, according to a monthly survey of home listings conducted by ZipRealty, an online real estate brokerage based in Emeryville, California.

The magnitude of the commercial real estate (CRE) downturn is a topic of intense debate. One school of thought argues that bad CRE loans could send the nation into another tailspin recession, while others say the industry has the advantage of lessons learned from the housing crisis to successfully weather the storm. New data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Tuesday seems to support the latter. MBA has concluded that commercial and multifamily mortgages continue to have the lowest charge-off rates of any loan type.

Several appraisal organizations, representing more than 35,000 real estate appraisers, are voicing their opposition to the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, set to take effect April 5, 2010. The program allows broker price opinions (BPOs) to be used to determine the value of properties to establish a minimum offer for a short sale. The trade groups argue that the use of BPOs will not protect all parties interests and is likely to open the door for fraud.

Equator, a Los Angeles-based software provider for the default servicing industry, announced Monday the launch of its new Professional REO solution. The company explained that PRO REO encompasses all the power and best practices of Equator's enterprise REO application in an affordable, quick and easy to adopt solution for the middle market.

Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc., a global investment banking firm with regional headquarters in New York, announced Friday that it has appointed Steve Abrahams as managing director and head of securitization and mortgage-backed securities research within the firm's global markets division.

New York-based Centerline Capital Group, a real estate asset management and financial services firm and subsidiary of Centerline Holding Company, announced Monday that it completed a series of transactions with Island Capital Group, LLC, an international merchant banking firm headquartered in New York, and its creditors and preferred shareholders.

Many lending groups have expressed serious concerns about several proposed regulations under the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act). To address these concerns, a number of national and local trade groups, led by the Mortgage Bankers Association, filed a comprehensive comment letter with HUD on Friday. While the groups support aspects of the proposal, the letter says HUD is exceeding its statutory authority under the SAFE Act by establishing a backup system and determining whether state laws meet the SAFE Act's minimum requirements.

As servicers step up efforts to modify loans and keep borrowers in their homes, many are tripping over stumbling blocks in the form of home equity loans and other second lien mortgages. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank has sent out a petition to some of the nation's largest junior lien holders demanding that they take ""immediate steps to write down second mortgages"" to create a clear path for sustainable loan restructurings, especially since the prospect for any real return on these seconds is negligible, Frank says.