Origination

Developers at six newly proposed condominium towers in the tri-county South Florida region have signed more than 500 pre-construction sales contracts and reservations, an indication that the market there has returned in a big way.

Nearly four out of every ten homes sold in 2011 have been purchased for cash on the barrelhead, according to a preliminary count by Housing Intelligence.

Post Properties Inc., an Atlanta-based real estate investment trust, has prepaid six multi-family mortgage loans held by Freddie Mac and will record a $7 million loss on the transaction.

It's time for eggnog and yearend lists—top news stories, newsmakers, stuff like that. But what about the great mortgage rumors that got away? Here lay five stories/rumors that went nowhere:

New home sales rose in November for the third consecutive month to the highest level since April, the Census Bureau reported Friday.

KB Home's midyear decision to transition its mortgage marketing agreement to a new lender caused significant delays in the Los Angeles-based homebuilder's ability to close home sales in the last quarter of its fiscal year.

Freddie Mac purchased $38.1 billion of mortgages in November, a 12% gain from the month prior, and its best acquisition month since February, according to new figures released by the GSE.

Fitch Ratings this week downgraded its servicer rating on Ocwen Financial Corp., Atlanta, questioning its rapid expansion in servicing contracts and voicing doubts about its heavy use of offshore workers.

Edward DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has one of the toughest jobs in town.

Only a couple of comments in this holiday week, but they are good ones. The first corrects some loose language in a Chicago ordinance, while the second identifies with the prevailing mood in the industry.