Servicing

According to the Harvard Joint Center's latest report on housing, the number of households in America is expected to grow over the coming decade. The study projects an average growth of anywhere from 1.25 million to 1.5 million households per year, depending on immigration. This rate of growth in household formation would well outpace the last five years, when growth was less than 1 million households per year.

Default and asset manager provider Altisource Portfolio Solutions is adding short sale and deed-in-lieu services to mortgage lenders and servicers.

Most maturing loans already in special servicing are either delinquent or in foreclosure, according to the latest Fitch Ratings weekly newsletter. The rating agency says this trend is likely to continue into 2011, when 2,198 fixed-rate commercial mortgage loans (representing $26.5 billion) mature, with 17% already in special servicing.

eTEC Appraisal Management Solutions in Phoenix is forming a new partnership with Affiliated Lender Services, a Florida-based vendor and consulting firm for mortgage lenders.

Residential home sales plummeted 30% in July from June, according to the RE/MAX National Housing Report, which provides an early reading of actual closings.

Financial Asset Services, Inc., Irvine, Calif., a national asset management company, has launched a new Door Knock service designed to help mortgage servicers in their loss mitigation efforts.

New industry research confirms what servicers and loss mitigation specialists have been saying in recent months: demand for short sales is going through the roof.

All homeowners current on their mortgages need to be refinanced into a mortgage with a 4.5% interest rate to help the economy, said Ted Jones, the chief economist at Stewart Title.

Declines in new default notices, which were down on a year-over-year basis for the sixth straight month in July, are being offset by near-record levels of bank repossessions, and REOs continue to skyrocket compared to a year ago for the eighth straight month, according to RealtyTrac.

Austin Bergstrom International Airport's Hilton hotel faces a deepening financial hole in the wake of a series of defaults on $49 million of revenue bonds, according to a recent audit.