Bottoming - Are We There Yet?

House Prices Fall 0.6% in 2011 Q2 

Washington, DC – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced U.S. house prices were 0.6 percent lower in the second quarter than in the first quarter of 2011, per the house price index (HPI).   The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages.


Not exactly what homeowners and those of us in the real estate biz are looking to hear.  Is this price slide a double dip?  Seems we're hearing the term used more often, unofficially.   Probably not so much a double-dip, as it is a double-whammy.  


Home prices have been hit from both the supply-side and the demand-side.  Supply is over-stocked with foreclosure inventory.  And the demand-side is hurt by high unemployment, mortgages being harder to get and consumer confidence being low.  There's no question that housing recovery in this market remains a slow process.     

The FHFA went on to say, "Over the past four quarters, seasonally adjusted prices fell 5.9 percent. The quarterly decrease came despite an increase in FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly house price index for June of 0.9 percent.  The June HPI was 18.8 percent below its April 2007 peak."

Link: FHFA 8/24/11 Press Release

FHFA / HUD Seek REO HELP!!!

Washington, DC  --   The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), in consultation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has announced  a Request  For Information (RFI), seeking input on new options for selling single-family real estate owned (REO) properties held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac  (the Enterprises), and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).


The RFI’s objective is to help address current and future REO inventory.  It will explore alternatives for maximizing value to taxpayers and increasing private investment in the housing market, including approaches that support rental and affordable housing needs.

The Enterprises will continue to market individual REO properties for sale while FHFA and the Enterprises seek other solutions.


"The RFI calls for approaches that achieve the following objectives:

• reduce the REO portfolios of the Enterprises and FHA in a cost-effective manner;
• reduce  average loan loss severities to the Enterprises and FHA relative to individual distressed property sales;
• address property repair and  rehabilitation needs;
• respond to economic and real estate conditions in specific geographies;
• assist in neighborhood and home price stabilization efforts; and
• suggest analytic approaches to determine the appropriate disposition strategy for individual properties, whether sale, rental, or, in certain instances, demolition.

FHFA, Treasury and HUD anticipate respondents may best address these objectives through REO to rental structures, but respondents are encouraged to propose strategies they believe best accomplish the RFI’s objectives.  Proposed strategies, transactions, and venture structures may also include:

• programs for previous homeowners to rent properties or for current renters to become owners (“lease-to-own”);
• strategies through which REO assets could be used to support markets with a strong demand for rental units and a substantial volume of REO;
• a mechanism for private owners of REO inventory to eventually participate in the transactions; and
• support for affordable housing.

Link to RFI

Fannie / Freddie to Align Guidelines for Delinquent Mortgages

Updated Framework to Include Servicer Incentives and Penalties

Washington, DC – Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) to align their guidelines for servicing delinquent mortgages they own or guarantee. In a nutshell the changes will:

·         establish uniform servicing requirements

·         provide monetary incentives for servicers

·         require servicers to contact borrowers as soon as they become delinquent

·         place servicer’s focus solely on remediating the delinquency

·         prevent foreclosure process from commencing if borrower and servicer are engaged in a good-faith effort to resolve the delinquency

·         require servicer to ensure a borrower has been considered for foreclosure alternatives before the loan is referred for foreclosure

·         offer financial incentives to encourage servicers to continue to help borrowers pursue a foreclosure alternative.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will each issue detailed guidelines to their servicers in the second and third quarters of 2011.   “Once fully implemented by the servicing industry, the Enterprises’ aligned policies should give homeowners a greater understanding of the process and faster resolution by requiring earlier contact, more frequent communication, and prompt decisions,” said DeMarco. 

Full Press Release

Craig Roberts, President of Pennsylvania First Settlement Services LP, is a Certified Land Title Professional (CLTP), past-President of the Pennsylvania Land Title Association, and is a licensed title agent and real estate broker in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania First Settlement Services is a full-service title insurance agency serving the greater Pocono area of northeastern Pennsylvania.  Its services include title searches, title insurance, real estate settlements, foreclosure research, documents services and short sale assistance.  www.pafirstsettlement.com

Housing Prices Drift Lower

From January to February prices fell 1.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the monthly House Price Index published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.  The previously reported 0.3 percent decrease in January was revised to a 1.0 percent decrease.  For the 12 months ending in February, U.S. prices fell 5.7 percent.  The U.S. index is  18.6 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the February 2004 index level.

The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.  For the nine Census Divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from  January  to February  ranged from  -3.7 percent in the Mountain  Division  to  -0.6 percent in the  East  South Central Division.

 FHFA Press Release

Craig Roberts, President of Pennsylvania First Settlement Services LP, is a Certified Land Title Professional (CLTP), past-President of the Pennsylvania Land Title Association, and is a licensed title agent and real estate broker in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania First Settlement Services is a full-service title insurance agency serving the greater Pocono area of northeastern Pennsylvania.  Its services include title searches, title insurance, real estate settlements, foreclosure research, documents services and short sale assistance.  www.pafirstsettlement.com

Short Sale HUDs

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Pennsylvania First Settlement Services is a full-service title insurance agency serving the greater Pocono area of northeastern Pennsylvania.  Its services include title searches, title insurance, real estate settlements, foreclosure research, documents services and short sale assistance.  www.pafirstsettlement.com

Not There Yet - Monthly House Price Index Declined 0.3 Percent

[FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY - NEWS RELEASE - 3/22/11]

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. house prices declined 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from December to January, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.3 percent decrease in December was revised downward to a 1.0 percent decrease. For the 12 months ending in January, U.S. prices fell 3.9 percent. The U.S. index is 16.5 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the May 2004 index level. The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. For the nine Census Divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from December to January ranged from -1.3 percent in the Mountain and South Atlantic Divisions to +1.6 percent in the West South Central Division. Monthly index values and appreciation rate estimates for recent periods are provided in the table and graphs on the following pages. Click here for complete historical data. For detailed information concerning the monthly HPI, please see the HPI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). The next release will be on April 21, 2011 and will include monthly HPI data for February 2011. ###

The Federal Housing Finance Agency regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.  These government-sponsored enterprises provide more than $5.9 trillion in funding for the U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions.

Craig Roberts, President of Pennsylvania First Settlement Services LP, is a Certified Land Title Professional (CLTP), past-President of the Pennsylvania Land Title Association, and is a licensed title agent and real estate broker in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania First Settlement Services is a full-service title insurance agency serving the greater Pocono area of northeastern Pennsylvania.  Its services include title searches, title insurance, real estate settlements, foreclosure research, documents services and short sale assistance.  www.pafirstsettlement.com

Much Ado about... Very Little

The February 2011 Housing Scorecard published by HUD & US Treasury tells the story.  The Obama Administration’s numbers reveal little help is being provided by the much ballyhooed Making Home Affordable federal programs currently in operation to assist distressed homeowners.  Pages of charts and statistics dress it up.  But the truth is of the over 10 million underwater home loans, only 1 in 17 homeowners have found help through HAMP permanent mortgage modifications.

What about those remaining homeowners not helped by HAMP?   Or looking at it statistically, those 16 in 17 that Making Home Affordable didn’t help?   That’s where Realtors come into the picture.  Keep working hard to make those short sales happen.  America’s homeowners need your dedicated service to forestall the avalanche of foreclosures.  Thank you for your service.

Cordially,

Craig Roberts, CLTP

PA First Settlement Services

HUD Press Release

February 2011 Housing Scorecard