REO

Fannie Mae reported a net loss of $8.7 billion for the first three months of this year, which company executives say was primarily driven by a decline in home prices during the quarter. Fannie's first-quarter shortfall actually narrowed compared to a year earlier, when the company reported a loss of $13 billion. The GSE has requested another $8.5 billion in taxpayer funds from Treasury, bringing its total draws to nearly $100 billion. Fannie Mae acquired 53,549 single-family REO properties through foreclosure in the first quarter.

HUD has released a report detailing recent business activity at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). It shows that the federal agency's inventory of REO homes has ballooned as sales from this portfolio fell sharply during the final months of 2010 and early part of this year. The number of repossessed single-family properties held at the end of February 2011 was 68,801. That figure represents an increase of more than 50 percent from a year earlier.

Las Vegas region home sales held at a five-year high in March amid strong activity from investors and cash buyers focusing on foreclosures. Due to the large number of discounted, foreclosure properties on the resale market, the median sales price fell in the area. According to figures from DataQuick, the median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas metro area in March was $117,000, it's lowest mark since January 1996.

California's Code 3 Realty & Mortgage Inc. will begin foreclosure prevention conference calls this month to provide information to homeowners facing foreclosure, as well as owners and renters occupying homes after they have been foreclosed. While many real estate companies host foreclosure prevention workshops for distressed homeowners, Code 3 contends that attendance at these events is usually low because foreclosure is such a sensitive topic and can be embarrassing for many. The company believes telephone conferences offer a discrete alternative.

Kansas-headquartered South & Associates, P.C. announced this week the opening of its full-service law office in West Des Moines, Iowa. This is the firm's fifth law office. South & Associates specializes in foreclosure, eviction, bankruptcy, litigation, title resolution, and loss mitigation, as well as commercial and special assets.

Germany's largest bank has been hit with its second lawsuit of the week related to the company's U.S. mortgage business. The city of Los Angeles has filed a civil law enforcement action against Deutsche Bank for allowing properties it has foreclosed on to fall into ""serious disrepair"" and for the alleged illegal eviction of hundreds of low-income tenants renting the foreclosed homes. The city attorney says Deutsche Bank has become one of the largest slumlords in Los Angeles.

The national home price index from Clear Capital has officially entered double-dip territory. The company says data through the end of April has pushed its reading of national home prices 0.7 percent below the prior low recorded in March 2009, as markets have become saturated with bank-owned properties. Clear Capital's report shows prices have fallen 11.5 percent over the previous nine-month period. A rate of decline this rapid has not been seen since 2008.

The nation's second largest mortgage company reported Wednesday that it pulled in net income of $676 million during the first three months of this year. Freddie Mac closed the quarter with positive net worth of $1.2 billion. As a result, no additional funding from Treasury was required for the first quarter of 2011. It's the first time since the fourth quarter of 2009 that the company has not needed to draw on taxpayer support. REO dispositions reached record levels in the first quarter with approximately 30,000 homes sold.

After three consecutive months in which the delinquency rate on loans held in U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) showed signs of leveling off, the rate re-accelerated in April, Trepp LLC reported Wednesday. The New York-based research firm says the percentage of loans 30-plus days delinquent, in foreclosure, or REO climbed 23 basis points last month to hit 9.65 percent. That number is, once again, the highest reading in the history of the CMBS market.

Texas continues to perform noticeably better than other states in the real estate market, local Realtors say, by avoiding an excess supply of foreclosures and other distressed properties. Economists say the state has managed to maintain balance between home inventory and demand, and this, combined with the fact that Texas has maintained strong property values, indicates the market is absorbing foreclosed and other distressed properties.