Category: News and Trends

NEW YORK–Eight years later, the real estate finance industry is still dealing with thousands of pages of regulations and legislative “fixes” stemming from the financial crisis.

RealtyTrac, Irvine, Calif., said vacant U.S. properties in the foreclosure process fell to just over 19,000 in the second quarter, even as the overall number of vacant residential properties crept up.

NEW YORK–Representatives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said they continue to make progress toward developing a Common Securitization Platform, but do not anticipate anything sooner than its projected 2018 implementation date.

Black Knight Financial Services, Jacksonville, Fla., said April foreclosure starts hit a 10-year low, while the nation’s foreclosure inventory fell to its lowest level since 2007.

Commercial banks continue to add multifamily mortgages to their balance sheets at a strong clip.

Equifax, Atlanta, reported total balance of write-offs year-to-date in March for first mortgages, home equity lines of credit and home equity loans fell to $9.5 billion in the first quarter, a nine-year low and a year-over-year decrease of 22.7 percent.

NEW YORK–Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, said the real estate finance industry must continue its vigilance in ensuring that the secondary mortgage market continues to function efficiently.

NEW YORK–It’s a perpetual question these days: is the federal government too involved in the secondary market, and what can be done to attract more private capital?

NEW YORK–Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said the economic tea leaves suggest a “very positive backdrop” for the nation’s housing and mortgage markets.

MBA NewsLink recently posed questions to Lionel Urban, founding partner and chairman of board of PCLender LLC, Reno, Nev.