Pending Home Sales Fall 7.6 Pct. in Jan

Pending Home Sales Fall 7.6 Pct. in Jan
March 3, 2010, ABC News via the Associated Press

The number of buyers who agreed to purchase a home fell sharply in January, a sign that demand for housing is sinking this winter as stormy weather slammed Eastern states. Record snowstorms in January and February had many Americans shoveling sidewalks and driveways instead of combing through listings for open houses. Partly as result, seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements fell 7.6 percent from December to a January reading of 90.4, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. It was the lowest reading since last April and a disappointment to economists, who had expected it would rise to 97.6.

Increasing Numbers of Californians are Suing Lenders
March 3, 2010, San Jose Mercury-News

Two weeks before their Sunnyvale home was to be auctioned off on the courthouse steps, Sonia Leverman and her sons seized on a desperate David-vs.-Goliath strategy: They sued their lender. Everything else the Levermans tried had already failed. By turning to the courts, they joined a fast-growing number of fearful and frustrated California home- owners who hope litigation will allow them to hold onto the American dream — maybe at a lower monthly mortgage cost, maybe just for a while longer until the inevitable foreclosure. In the last five years, the number of foreclosure lawsuits filed in federal court in California has ballooned — like an exploding adjustable-rate mortgage — from only 29 statewide in 2005 to nearly 1,400 last year.

Are Second Mortgages the Achilles Heel of a Housing Recovery?
February 4, 2010, Wall Street Journal

Housing analysts are drawing more attention to one big problem that’s making loan modifications less successful and drawing out efforts to pursue short sales and other foreclosure alternatives: The presence of second mortgages such as home equity loans and lines of credit.

Specialized Asset Management Markets REO Assets on RealtyTrac
March 3, 2010, DSNews.com

To better market its real estate-owned (REO) listings, Highlands Ranch, Colorado-based Specialized Asset Management LLC (SAM), a national provider of asset marketing and disposition services to mortgage lenders, servicers, and investors, recently partnered with RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace headquartered in Irvine, California. “Many of our users are specifically interested in purchasing bank-owned properties, and we want to give those users every opportunity to find and purchase those properties,” said Rick Sharga, SVP for RealtyTrac. “This exciting new partnership with SAM does just that by delivering a new pool of REO properties that our users can more easily purchase.”

Are Banks Delaying Foreclosure Sales?
March 3, 2010, Sun-Sentinel

A new ruling by a South Florida Circuit Court shows banks may be held financially accountable for purposely delaying foreclosure sales – which may be welcome news for many associations complaining about how long it takes now to get a condo unit or home through the foreclosure process.