Mortgages

The Securities and Exchange Commission believes that mortgage real estate investment trusts are beginning to look more like mutual funds and has initiated a review of their exemption from the Investment Company Act.

Home prices rose in July for the fourth consecutive month, according to CoreLogic, which tracks the market through its house price index.

Bank of America is hiring financial advisors, including mortgage specialists, as it expands its network of high tech "specialty stores" for customers with $50,000 to $250,000 in "investable assets."

Lender Processing Services is now marketing its hybrid valuation service to owners of distressed property portfolios as an alternative to traditional broker price opinions.

A few years back there was a growing school of thought—and factual proof—that the entire mortgage banking landscape would be 90% controlled by just five lenders and servicers, mostly megabanks.But that was before the bubble burst on housing and foreclosures soared to record levels.

Nationwide sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure or bank-owned status in the second quarter this year accumulated for 31% of all residential sales, according to RealtyTrac.

As the government makes changes to servicing regulations and short-sale fraud lawsuits continue to linger in the wake of the robo-signing scandal, Woodward Asset Capital is adapting to the ongoing changes to help lenders with their asset disposition strategies.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union has launched a jumbo loan program for high net worth borrowers that allows them to use a percentage of their assets in certain other financial products to help them qualify for hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages from $417,001 to $3 million in size.

Independent mortgage banking firms made an average profit of $575 per origination in the second quarter, a 66% gain compared to 1Q -- but a significant decline from two years ago when the average gain was $1,358.

Behringer Harvard, a global real estate investment program, has formed BH Capital that will focus on the acquisition of small-balance debt properties sold on the secondary market through individual transactions or portfolio sales.

Three properties in Ohio and Michigan that previously belonged to General Motors Corp. have been sold in separate transactions.

A payment has not been made on the average loan in foreclosure in 599 days, up from 587 the previous month, according to Lender Processing Services Inc.'s latest monthly Mortgage Monitor report.

Congress begins its fall session on Tuesday and lawmakers will have only a few weeks to act before the authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to issue new flood insurance policies expires on Sept. 30.

In the last 12 months, those who use an Individual Retirement Account to save money for their post-workplace lifestyle have put $450 million of their funds into real estate, according to IRA Financial Group, New York.

Mortgage applications dropped 9.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly mortgage applications survey.

An executive in the senior housing lending business is warning potential borrowers that because of the tight credit markets, they must be prepared to give even more descriptive information and data than already has been provided.

After months of rumors, Bank of America made it official Wednesday morning, saying it would exit the correspondent mortgage space, where it ranks second nationwide.

CoreLogic said recently hired financial advisory firm Greenhill & Co. will evaluate the company's financial strategy and “explore a wide range of options aimed at enhancing shareholder value,” up to and including a possible sale or merger of the Santa Ana, Calif.-based provider of mortgage and property data, analytics, technology and services.

Future mortgage-backed securities repurchase disputes could go through independent third-party reviews and possibly binding arbitration as part of model principles for them released by the American Securitization Forum Tuesday.

Mortgage-related securities issuers have to decide whether to maintain their ability to come to market regularly in tough times or whether it might be wiser to wait for calmer waters.