News

According to information released today from MORTECH LLC, a company that has provided research on lender attitudes and behavior and their use of technology for the last twenty years, early returns to the MORTECH 2008 survey show lenders overwhelmingly agree that the federal government had good reason to intervene in the operations of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when it stepped in and took conservatorship of the two companies on September 7 of this year.

There is some positive news regarding the weakened housing market, Rainbow City, Alabama-based RealtyBid.com reports. The good news is that there are still thousands of buyers with a large appetite for appropriately priced homes, and the growing success of RealtyBid.

Borrowers who took out mortgages in the first half of 2008 showed a strong preference for fixed rate mortgage products due to a decrease in fixed mortgage rates and the continued tightening of lending standards, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA’s) Mortgage Originations Survey released today.

Cranbury, New Jersey-based Visionet announced today that it is offering an updated version of its VisiRetention solution to facilitate refinancing through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUDxs) Hope for Homeowners (H4H) program.

The number of vacant residential properties for sale inched up to 2.23 million units in the third quarter of 2008 from 2.1 million units in the second quarter, according to a Census Bureau report released last week.

The Federal Reserve released its quarterly survey on lending practices yesterday, and it showed that 95 percent of banks have tightened their lending standards on at least some forms of loans. The survey of 55 domestic banks and 21 U.

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc., a Fortune 500 provider of products, services, and technology solutions to the financial and real estate industries, is now offering its MLS customers reInsight Data, a new open architecture data sharing solution, the company announced yesterday.

One third of all subprime loans modified in the third quarter of 2007 were delinquent again within 10 months, according to a Credit Suisse report. A study by Moody’s ratings agency showed similar results.

The White House has said it is currently reviewing several foreclosure prevention programs, but reportedly has major drawbacks to the national loan modification program that Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), has submitted.

Bankers Real Estate Services (BRES) Advisors Inc., a California analytics and transaction execution company, has introduced an evaluation product to the real estate owned (REO) market that determines the properties’ end game, the company said in a press statement.