Technology

Veros Real Estate Solutions, Santa Ana, Calif., has released the results of its quarterly forecasting of the nation's real estate markets, predicting the five hottest and coldest markets for the next 12 months. According to Veros, the five strongest markets in its coverage area over the next 12 months will be: Wichita, Kan., with a 4% appreciation rate; and, all with a 3% rate, Raleigh/Cary, N.C.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Fargo, N.D.; and Tulsa, Okla. The weakest markets are forecast to be: Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif., down 15%; Modesto, Calif., down 15%; Palm Bay/Melbourne/Titusville, Fla., down 14%; Cape Coral/Ft. Myers, Fla., down 13%; and Sacramento/Roseville, Calif., down 12%. Veros, a risk management and collateral valuation services vendor, can be found on the Web at http://www.veros.com.

The Chinese affiliate of First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., has launched a website, the first of its kind in China. First Title (Beijing) Real Estate Guaranty Co. Ltd. is the first entirely foreign-owned real estate guaranty company in the country. "We want to integrate the real estate finance service chain in China," said Edward Ma, assistant vice president of information operations for First Title (Beijing). "Our website, backed by a specialized service team and partnership with leading industry practitioners such as Kblcw.com, Moneyschool.msn.com.cn, Kooxoo.com, and Pinggu.Soufun.com, provides loan product information to our clients in a timely manner." The website will serve as a one-stop, self-service platform for end-users by providing real estate purchasers and owners with the most up-to-date information on mortgage product options -- the Chinese version of escrow and other services for residential and commercial property transactions. The website is located at http://www.zhongyian.com.

Mortgage technology vendors are in for a rough ride, according to the 2007 Mortech study. Statistics show that lenders increased technology spending by approximately 8% over the past three to five years, said Mortech publisher Jeff Lebowitz. His projections before the credit crisis were that those same lenders would reduce tech spending by 2.0%-2.5% in 2008, but "with the demise and distress of major mortgage technology spenders" Mortech now projects that the decline could be 10% or more. "We have never seen the industry technology budgets being at such risk," said Mr. Lebowitz. "Most mortgage technology suppliers are pretty small -- under $50 million in revenues. Mortgage technology providers will have to be pretty resourceful to weather this storm." The 2007 study, based on a scientific sample of 330 lenders of all sizes, is now in its 20th year.

Rutgers Investment Group Inc., a subsidiary of FirstPlus Financial Group, Irving, Texas, has announced an outsourcing agreement with HomeLoanAdvisors.com to provide mortgage processing and fulfillment services. Jack Roubinek, chief executive officer at Rutgers, said the pact allows both firms to do what they do best. "HomeLoanAdvisors.com manages the client contact, while we at Rutgers take care of the back-office work, pulling the whole package together for the borrower," he said. The companies can be found on the Web at http://www.firstplusgroup.com and http://www.homeloanadvisors.com.

E*Trade Financial -- which is undergoing a wrenching restructuring -- said Wednesday that it has sold an additional $3 billion worth of bonds, including mortgage-backed securities and municipals. The bank/online brokerage firm said it took a $5 million loss on the sales which occurred in separate transactions over the past several weeks. (In November it sold $3 billion in asset-backed securities.) The New York-based E*Trade also said its home equity portfolio is continuing to "run off as anticipated" and totaled just under $12 billion in loans at year's end. Early in the fall, E*Trade closed its wholesale residential unit and booked a $245 million charge against earnings because of bad home equity loans and what it called a "deterioration in the mortgage market."

First Florida Financial Group, Fort Myers, Fla., has announced the launch of DeadDeals.net, which purchases qualified "unclosable" mortgage and foreclosure leads from mortgage brokers and loan officers in Florida. DeadDeals.net pays from $50 to $500 for each lead, and its CashToolBox.com program fixes mortgage application problems that are preventing a loan approval and closing, First Florida said. Eddie Hoskins, president and chief executive officer of First Florida, said the new division enables mortgage professionals "to make some money on a deal where previously there was no revenue." The division can be found on the Web at http://www.deaddeals.net.

Doug Lebda, president and chief operating officer of IAC, has been named chairman and chief executive officer of the company's financial services and real estate businesses, including LendingTree, HomeLoanCenter, GetSmart, RealEstate.com, Domania, and iNest. C.D. Davies, CEO of LendingTree, and Bret Violette, president of RealEstate.com, will report to Mr. Lebda, who joined IAC in 2003 after the company acquired LendingTree. IAC announced in November that it plans to separate itself into five publicly traded entities (including LendingTree). The company said the latest announcement was the first in a series that will deal with the structure for each of the separate entities. IAC, Lending Tree, and RealEstate.com can be found online at http://www.iac.com, http://www.lendingtree.com, and http://www.realestate.com.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of Houston-based Stewart Lender Services' flood determination business.The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Stewart's flood determination division offers basic certification, basic plus life of loan, portfolio review, and commercial flood determinations. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' PCi line of flood determination solutions and Stewart's flood determination division offer similar services: determinations compliant with all federal flood regulations and the policies of government agencies and loan servicers; an online database that provides determinations in seconds; and manual determinations when necessary, with answers to questions regarding exceptions, regulatory implications, or overall service issues. Stewart Lender Services is a subsidiary of Stewart Title Co. and part of Stewart Information Services Corp. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services can be found on the Web at http://www.wolterskluwerfs.com.

Mortgage Xpress Inc., a Houston-based mortgage lender, has announced an amendment to its articles of incorporation to change its name to The Alternative Energy Technology Center Inc.Documents will be filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for approval. Mortgage Xpress said the name change, and a reverse stock split on a one-share-per-50-shares basis, will be effective when approved. The company estimated that the changes will take effect in about two weeks.

Most Home Corp., Vancouver, British Columbia, has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to purchase all or substantially all the operating assets of NetUpdate Inc., a Web-based point-of-sale technology vendor.The parties intend to close on or before Dec. 31. The anticipated total value of the transaction is up to a maximum of $2.7 million, consisting of $500,000 in common stock, a $200,000 promissory note, and earn-out (common) shares of Most Home with a maximum value of $2.0 million. Most Home Real Estate Services Inc. provides an end-to-end electronic marketing solution and technology platform that enables real estate and mortgage firms to increase their online lead conversion rates, the company said. NetUpdate can be found online at http://www.netupdate.com.