Servicing

A New York-based real estate fund manager that currently handles more than $2 billion of assets has expanded its business operations by opening new offices in Fort Myers, Fla.

I occasionally get invitations to speak at mortgage industry events (in addition to chairing our own SourceMedia conferences). My reaction is always bifurcated. On the one hand I'm always flattered people think my outlook on the business is worth listening to. On the other hand I'm always worried I will say something exquisitely stupid.

Investors ramped up their purchases of single-family homes last year to a level not seen since 2007 -- and only half of those buyers financed the purchase. Almost half (49%) paid cash, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors.

For the past three months, the nation's largest residential servicers have had a lock on refinancing high LTV and underwater loans in their GSE portfolios. In a nutshell the megabanks could manually underwrite loans they controlled under Dec. 1 revisions made to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program.

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman's efforts to carve $15 million out of the state's $132 million national mortgage servicing settlement fund to provide foreclosure prevention assistance to New Yorkers came to fruition only a few days shy of the fund's expiration date.

Banc of Manhattan Capital, Woodland Hills, Calif., is taking bids on a $26 million pool of re-performing whole loans, servicing released.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan fell to 3.99% for the week ending March 29, compared to 4.08% the week prior, according to new figures compiled by Freddie Mac.

The firm’s Mortgage Fraud Risk Report found that incidents of employment and income fraud increased 14% during 2011. This follows an upward trend seen over the last two years in which these fraud activities occurred 45% of the time.

The largest banks are charging relatively high interest rates to borrowers that qualify for a government refinance program, according to analysts, who say that the trend bodes well for mortgage profits in the second quarter.

Residential servicers completed 65,000 foreclosures in February, an 8% decline from the prior month and just about flat from the same period a year ago, according to new figures compiled by CoreLogic, Santa Ana, Calif.