Servicing

States that rely on judicial foreclosures to clear delinquent loans are swamped with large inventories of problem homes with the overall process taking six months longer than in non-judicial states, according to a new report from Lender Processing Services, Jacksonville, Fla.

Annaly Capital Management, the nation's largest mortgage investing REIT, posted a $922 million net loss in the third quarter, citing a flattening yield curve and faster prepayment speeds.

While new CMBS issuance is likely to continue trailing off as of Tuesday afternoon there was still at least one deal in the works and there were signs of continued investor demand for it despite broader market concerns.

Many U.S. banks are eliminating or reducing high-risk assets, including real estate and mortgage backed assets that require more capital in preparation for the new Basel III recommendations that phase into effect by 2019. This shift is generating pressure on pricing policies and procedures.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield Tuesday morning dropped more than 20 basis points and the Dow fell close to 300 points, putting downward pressure on industry stocks and mortgage rates.

There were 58,019 single-family homes sold in Texas during the third quarter, up 18% over the same period last year, the Texas Quarterly Housing Report said. Volume, one economist noted, has returned to levels last seen eight and nine years ago, when the markets acted in a more normal fashion.

The Occupy Wall Street movement may still be amorphous, but it is making clear that awareness about lack of basic understanding of the financial markets and homeownership is proliferating education efforts most likely to prevail for years to come and regardless of the outcome of the movement it helped set off.

If the Federal Reserve launches a new round of MBS buying it could cause spreads between mortgages and Treasuries to tighten — as would be expected — but it also would spur returns for broker/dealers.

A group of 14 mortgage loan servicers that entered into the April settlement with the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have set up the independent foreclosure review mechanism the agreement calls for.

Statistics have long shown a personal financial crisis may lead to depression that breaks families apart. Add to that mortgage default, foreclosure and the so-called midlife crisis known to affect many people over 50 years old, and a new problem emerges. New data are linking mortgage default to “substantially increased risk” of depression among this particular group of homeowners.