Home / News / REO (page 178)

REO

Mortgage Contracting Services Announces Three New VPs

Mortgage Contracting Services LLC (MCS), a Florida-based nationwide provider of property preservation, inspections, and REO property maintenance to the financial services industry, announced three new company VPs on Tuesday. Todd Luckey was promoted to VP of REO operations, Megan Stinnett was promoted to VP of inspection operations, and Chad Mosley was hired as VP of business development.

Read More »

Regulators: Completed Foreclosures in Q3 Up 57% from Year Ago

New data from federal regulators show that the nation's largest banks and thrifts repossessed nearly 187,000 homes during the third quarter of 2010. The number of foreclosures completed during the three-month period is up 57.5 percent from a year earlier. The report shows that new foreclosures initiated also rose to more than 382,000. Although foreclosure activity increased during the quarter, servicers reported almost twice as many home retention actions as completed home forfeiture actions.

Read More »

Equator Announces Default Servicing Milestones

Default servicing software provider Equator has sold more than $100 billion in assets through its platform since 2003, according to an announcement from the company. In addition, since launching its automated short sale solution in November 2009, the company has initiated more than 500,000 short sales. The company plans to offer several new modules later this year that will interface with existing technology to assist servicers with growing inventories of distressed assets.

Read More »

Pending Sales of Existing Homes Swell by 3.5%: NAR

The number of contracts signed for purchases of previously owned homes climbed again in November, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) late last week. The organization's pending home sales index rose 3.5 percent based on contracts signed in November. That follows a record 10 percent jump recorded for the month of October and beat even the most modest market expectations. NAR describes the trend as indicative of ""a gradual recovery into 2011.""

Read More »

Freddie Mac’s Nothaft Predicts Mortgage Rates to Remain Below 5%

Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac, says he expects long-term mortgage rates to hold below the 5 percent threshold throughout 2011, as key macroeconomic drivers provide a backdrop that supports a continued, albeit gradual, housing recovery. Turning to home prices, Nothaft says markets that have large inventories of for-sale homes and REO properties will continue to see home-value weakness in 2011, but he believes price indexes for the U.S. as a whole are close to bottoming out.

Read More »

Fitch Gives United States Title Insurance a Negative Outlook for 2011

A report from Fitch Ratings paints a negative picture for the Title Insurance Industry in 2011. According to the report, the title insurance market is severely affected by the current state of the economy, most notably the sharp decline in real estate and mortgage activity. According to the report, the title insurance market is severely affected by the current state of the economy, most notably the sharp decline in real estate and mortgage activity.

Read More »

Field Asset Services Releases Industry Predictions for 2011

Field Asset Services (FAS) anticipates the field services industry to focus on advancing the vendor network and creating higher quality field service offerings in 2011. The company says with the decline of the housing market, the use of field services has become a core business practice for banks, servicers, and investors taking on the day-to-day maintenance and preservation of REO properties. With predictions that the REO inventory will grow in 2011, FAS says there will be greater reliance on third-party support to gain control over costs and risks.

Read More »

Sales of Existing Homes Gain Ground in November

Existing-home sales got back on an upward path in November, resuming a growth trend since bottoming in July, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday. Sales of previously owned homes rose 5.6 percent last month. Distressed homes accounted for 33 percent of the month's total sales volume. Housing inventory at the end of November fell 4 percent to 3.71 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.5-month supply at the current sales pace.

Read More »

Veteran of CRE Liquidations Launches Florida Asset Management Firm

Peter Monroe was president of the oversight board of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) in the early 1990s. During his tenure there, he lent his expertise to unwinding hundreds of billions of commercial mortgages from insolvent savings and loan (S&L) institutions. With the current real estate downturn, such skills are in demand again, and Monroe has his sights set on the Florida commercial property market.

Read More »

Advisory: Freddie Mac to Reduce REO Broker Commissions

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) issued a notice to its members Monday alerting them that Freddie Mac plans to cut back the amount of commission paid for REOs sold in certain states. The GSE said it decided to institute the commission reductions in order to reduce expenses, after considering various data in the affected states. The new payment structures apply to Freddie Mac-owned HomeSteps properties that are listed with a real estate broker on or after January 1, 2011.

Read More »