Servicing

WASHINGTON—Multifamily occupancy and rents rates have held up fairly well during the deep recession, yet delinquencies on securitized multifamily loans recently hit a record high in December.It appears the problem is not a question of bad properties or low occupancy rates, says Trepp managing director Manus Clancy.

Remodeling may seem passé as the mortgage market and the economy at large strive to recover from the crisis, but research findings along with insider’s expectations show it is anything but. Far from a stagnant activity it is “poised for growth.”

The share of adjustable-rate mortgages will rise to 9% of the home purchase market later this year, up from 7% at the current time and 3% in early 2009, according to Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft. This was among the findings of the company's 27th annual ARM survey.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency confirmed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are exploring possible changes to mortgage servicer compensation, but said implementation is unlikely before the summer of 2012.

U.S. banks exported billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities losses to their peers in Germany and elsewhere in Europe before the housing collapse. Now those overseas institutions may join the effort to put back some of the losses.

The overall economy has moved from a fragile recovery to firmer, less volatile growth, but the housing market is not expected to grow accordingly until 2012, according to the latest Fannie Mae economic outlook.

As the mortgage industry waits with bated breath for the Treasury Department to present its fix for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it’s good to remember that thoughtful people already have been suggesting solutions for this intolerable $150 billion chit against taxpayer dollars that the two represent.

Lenders repo-ed almost as many properties in South Florida last year than in the previous two years combined, according to a new report.

Going forward, this year and most probably the next, the market is expected to go through a cathartic jump in foreclosure filings mostly due to “unexpectedly mixed” activity during the last quarter of 2010.RealtyTrac’s Year End 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows a record 2.9 million properties received foreclosure filings by the end of 2010, up 2% from 2009 and 23% compared to 2008.

The National Credit Union Administration plans to sell another $1.5 billion of bonds later this week, resuming its effort to raise funds to finance the corporate credit union bailout.