Last week, C.A.R. leadership met with federal housing regulators and California’s Congressional Delegation in Washington, D.C., to discuss the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) bulk sale REO pilot program.
Leadership expressed C.A.R.’s strong opposition to the pilot program given the low inventory of homes for sale across California. According to C.A.R. statistics and discussions with California REALTORS®, the state is facing a shortage of available housing, and the lack of inventory has forced many buyers to face multiple offers across the state.
Although the pilot program calls for Los Angeles and Riverside counties to be included, federal regulators have stated they do not believe that properties that would sell for a higher price through the current REO broker network should be included in the bulk sales program.
Because many REO listings are selling for near or above listing price with multiple bids, C.A.R. hopes the FHFA will refrain from implementing the pilot program in California.
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco this week sent to Congress a strategic plan for the next phase of the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
FHFA identified three strategic goals for the next phase of the conservatorships:
Build. Build a new infrastructure for the secondary mortgage market;
Contract. Gradually contract the Enterprises’ dominant presence in the marketplace while simplifying and shrinking their operations; and
Maintain. Maintain foreclosure prevention activities and credit availability for new and refinanced mortgages.
http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/23344/StrategicPlanConservatorshipsFINAL.pdf
U.S. house prices rose 1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from October to November, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.2 percent decrease in October was revised downward to reflect a 0.7 percent decrease. For the 12 months ending in November, U.S. prices fell 1.8 percent. The U.S. index is 18.8 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the February 2004 index level.
The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from October to November ranged from -0.2 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +2.1 percent in the West South Central division.
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Fannie Mae’s third quarter National Housing Survey shows that those who are exposed to default have similar attitudes about buying a home as those who do not know people who have defaulted. However, the survey also finds greater pessimism about the economy and personal finances among consumers who know defaulters.”Knowing someone who has defaulted on their mortgage appears to be correlated with consumers being slightly more pessimistic about the direction of the economy, their finances, and their ability to obtain a mortgage, but does not materially correlate with their desire to own a home or their view of housing as a safe investment,” said Doug Duncan, vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae.
Owners and renters who know defaulters are as likely to say owning makes more sense than renting, say buying a home is a safe investment and display roughly the same intention to buy a home as those who do not know a defaulter.However, the survey also finds higher levels of pessimism on several measures related to the broader economy and personal financial prospects among consumers who know people that have defaulted:More info
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to transition to a system that allows mortgage servicers to select their own law firms for processing defaults and foreclosures, rather than relying on a pool of attorneys designated by the companies.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/fannie-freddie-end-lawyer-networks-amid-foreclosure-woes/2011/10/18/gIQAIA3QxL_story.html?hpid=z4
