How funny is this?

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the March edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard. Officials caution that the latest housing figures underscore fragility in the housing market and the need to continue efforts to help American families stay in their homes. The housing scorecard is a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market.

“There’s no question that this month’s figures show a troubling dip in home sales and housing prices,” said HUD Assistant Secretary Raphael Bostic. “While we should not ignore the real impact that the Obama Administration’s programs are having for millions of homeowners and borrowers, these statistics clearly show that housing markets across the country continue to struggle to regain stable footing. We must remain steadfast in our efforts to support homeowners and communities in ways to help advance market stabilization and a transition towards health.”

“The latest data underscore the importance of continuing our efforts to help families stay in their homes,” said acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad. “Each month, the Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program helps over 25,000 additional families avoid foreclosure, and it has set important standards that have led to more than 2 million mortgage modifications outside of the program. We are also working hard to implement additional programs to assist families in the hardest-hit states. We will continue these efforts so that we help more Americans remain in their homes and help our nation recover from this crisis.”

Available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard, the March Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market including:

• Housing market remains fragile as data through February paint a mixed picture of recovery. Home prices remain weak under continued strain from foreclosures and distressed home sales, according to CoreLogic data now available in the Housing Scorecard. Mortgage delinquencies continued a downward trend compared to early 2010 and foreclosure starts and completions remain below peak. However, as lenders review internal procedures related to foreclosure processing, many foreclosure actions have been delayed. The decline is likely to be temporary as lenders eventually revise and resubmit foreclosure paperwork in the coming months.
• Administration efforts have helped millions of families deal with the effects of the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Since April of 2009, record low mortgage rates have helped nearly 10 million homeowners to refinance, resulting in $18.1 billion in total borrower savings. More than 4.4 million modification arrangements were started between April 2009 and the end of February 2011 – including more than 1.5 million HAMP trial modification starts, more than 776,000 FHA loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions, and nearly 2.2 million proprietary modifications under HOPE Now. While some homeowners may have received help from more than one program, the number of agreements offered was more than double the number of foreclosure completions for the same period (1.9 million). View the February HAMP Servicer Performance Report.

Given the current fragility and recognizing that recovery will take place over time, the Administration remains committed to its efforts to prevent avoidable foreclosures and stabilize the housing market.

Each month, the Housing Scorecard incorporates key housing market indicators and highlights the impact of the Administration’s unprecedented housing recovery efforts, including assistance to homeowners through the FHA and HAMP. The Obama Administration’s complete Housing Scorecard is available at: www.hud.gov/scorecard.

In the first month of the New Year, Cambridge Realty Capital Companies reports processing 19 loan origination requests totaling $317.2 million, or slightly fewer than the same month last year when the company processed 22 loan requests totaling $373 million.

Cambridge Chairman Jeffrey A. Davis says the slightly lower numbers for January most accurately reflects changes in the way the company has been entering new loan requests into its internal processing system.

“Today’s tight credit markets have forced us to be more selective in the type of loans we can consider,” he said.

Davis points out that lenders close a relatively small percentage of origination requests received. However, Cambridge regularly tracks this information as an indication of market direction.

“The way we currently read the market is that conditions remain less than ideal but borrower interest remains relatively strong,” he said.

Cambridge is the creator of The Signature Experience™, a four-step process designed to transform the traditional lender/borrower relationship and identify “ideal” capital solutions for worthy projects. The company has a national origination office in Los Angeles, and numerous correspondent and brokerage relationships nationwide.

From the floor of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Mortgage Servicing Conference, a la mode today announced the expansion of the Mercury Network Vendor Management Platform (VMP) to also offer Broker Price Opinions (BPOs). Mercury Network is the premier VMP, allowing the nation’s largest lenders and appraisal management companies to manage appraisals nationwide. The same hugely popular platform will soon connect these same clients to real estate agents and brokers via a one-of-a-kind BPO service.

Just as clients have total control over appraisal quality with Mercury, users of Mercury’s BPO service will be able to select providers based on their own preferences including proximity to subject property, late percentage, average turn-around times, load levels and more. The solution will fully integrate with appraisal ordering, making it easier to manage both processes from one platform. Most important, agents won’t be required to pay to be listed or to receive orders, so they’ll be happy to participate.

“Our BPO service will be radically different than what’s currently on the market, said Jennifer Miller, EVP of Products for a la mode’s Mortgage Solutions Division. “Lenders, AMCs and servicers can just order directly from providers on Mercury Network, so there are no middleman markups, delays, contracts, minimums or hassles. Mercury will be their direct connection to the highest quality, nationwide BPOs and they can just log in and start ordering. Agents will be signing up soon and the solution will be available in the spring of 2011.”

Mercury Network is the foremost online Vendor Management Platform allowing lenders and AMCs to manage their appraisal workflow, and soon BPOs.  It is currently used by a lengthy roster of the nation’s largest lenders, credit unions, community banks and appraisal management companies, and more than 10,000 appraisal transactions per day flow through its servers.

For more information on Mercury Network, visit www.MercuryVMP.com.

For the first time ever, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today published the most authoritative analysis of the extent and nature of homelessness among American veterans. According to HUD and VA’s assessment, nearly 76,000 veterans were homeless on a given night in 2009 while roughly 136,000 veterans spent at least one night in a shelter during that year.

This unprecedented assessment is based on an annual report HUD provides to Congress and explores in greater depth the demographics of veterans who are homeless, how veterans compare to others who are homeless, and how veterans access and use the nation’s homeless response system.

“This report offers a much clearer picture about what it means to be a veteran living on our streets or in our shelters,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “Understanding the nature and scope of veteran homelessness is critical to meeting President Obama’s goal of ending veterans’ homelessness within five years.”

“With our federal, state and community partners working together, more Veterans are moving into safe housing,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “But we’re not done yet. Providing assistance in mental health, substance abuse treatment, education and employment goes hand-in-hand with preventive steps and permanent supportive housing. We continue to work towards our goal of finding every Veteran safe housing and access to needed services.”

Last June, President Obama announced the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness, including a focus on homeless veterans. The report, Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, puts the country on a path to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015; and to ending homelessness among children, family, and youth by 2020. Read more about the Administration’s strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness in America.

Key findings of the report released today include:

• More than 3,000 cities and counties reported 75,609 homeless veterans on a single night in January of 2009; 57 percent were staying in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program while the remaining 43 percent were unsheltered. Veterans represent approximately 12 percent of all homeless persons counted nationwide during the 2009 ‘point-in-time snapshot.’
• During a 12-month period in 2009, an estimated 136,000 veterans—or about 1 in every 168 veterans—spent at least one night in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program. The vast majority of sheltered homeless veterans (96 percent) experienced homelessness alone while a much smaller share (four percent) was part of a family. Sheltered homeless veterans are most often individual white men between the ages of 31 and 50 and living with a disability.
• Veterans are fifty percent more likely to become homeless compared to all Americans and the risk is even greater among veterans living in poverty and poor minority veterans. HUD and VA examined the likelihood of becoming homeless among American veterans with particular demographic characteristics and found that during 2009, twice as many poor Hispanic veterans used a shelter compared with poor non-Hispanic veterans. African American veterans in poverty had similar rates of homelessness.
• Most veterans who used emergency shelter stayed for only brief periods. One-third stayed in shelter for less than one week; 61 percent used a shelter for less than one month; and 84percent stayed for less than three months. The report also concluded that veterans remained in shelters longer than did non-veterans. In 2009, the median length of stay for veterans who were alone was 21 days in an emergency shelter and 117 days in transitional housing. By contrast, non-veteran individuals stayed in an emergency shelter for 17 days and 106 days in transitional housing.
• Nearly half of homeless veterans were located in California, Texas, New York and Florida while only 28 percent of all veterans were located in those same four States.
• Sheltered homeless veterans are far more likely to be alone rather than part of a family household; 96 percent of veterans are individuals compared to 66 percent in the overall homeless population.

HUD and VA are currently working together to administer a joint program specifically targeted to homeless veterans. Through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, HUD provides rental assistance for homeless veterans while VA offers case management and clinical services. Since 2008, a total investment of $225 million is working to provide housing and supportive service for approximately 30,000 veterans who would otherwise be homeless.

In addition, last month HUD awarded $1.4 billion to keep nearly 7,000 local homeless assistance programs operating in the coming year. The Department also allocated $1.5 billion through its new Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) Program. Made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, HPRP is intended to prevent persons from falling into homelessness or to rapidly re-house them if they do. To date, more than 750,000 persons, including more than 15,000 veterans, have been assisted through HPRP.

The full report can be downloaded here

Cambridge Realty Capital Companies reports closing on a $7.4 million FHA-insured HUD LEAN loan for Ebenezer Primm Towers, a 107-unit senior independent living apartment community in Evanston, Ill.

Chairman Jeffrey A. Davis said Cambridge Realty Capital Ltd. of Illinois, the company’s HUD underwriting business, used HUD’s Section 232 (a)(7) funding program for borrowers refinancing an existing HUD loan. The fully-amortized, 40-year term loan was arranged for the property’s owner, an Illinois corporation. The interest rate was not disclosed.

Cambridge is the creator of The Signature Experience™, a four-step process designed to transform the traditional lender/borrower relationship and identify “ideal” capital solutions for worthy projects. The company has a national origination office in Los Angeles, and numerous correspondent and brokerage relationships nationwide.

Cambridge publishes the bi-monthly e-PULSE!(R) electronic newsletter, which delivers company news and feature stories via e-mail to corporate friends and clients. Additional information is available on the Cambridge website, www.cambridgecap.com, and Cambridge can be reached at (312) 357-1601 or via e-mail to info@cambridgecap.com.

China’s Central bank says the world will continue to move away from US Currency Dependance

Bank of China has opened trading in the Chinese currency to customers in the U.S., The move is the latest by China to allow the yuan to become an international currency that can be used for trade and investment.

“The exchange indicates the strengthening of the Chinese economy and its currency. Internationalizing currency is a trend that will only continue, not cease,” said Benjamin Wey, a US-China business and trade relations expert. Ben overseas operations in both China and the US as the President of New York Global Group, a US-China investment firm located in Beijing and New York.

His full bio:

Mr. Benjamin Wey is a Wall Street expert on China and U.S. – China trade relations. He is the current President of New York Global Group (“NYGG”), one of the largest Wall Street middle market advisory firms specialized in China related transactions in the areas of corporate finance, private equity investments, China due diligence and strategic consulting. Headquartered in New York City and Beijing, NYGG has more than 80 professionals, 16 years of China transaction experience supported by a large bilingual local Chinese staff, and access to more than US$500 million of investment capital. Since 1998, NYGG has advised and participated in over 200 China-related transactions and has helped raise approximately US$2 billion for China-based, highly profitable growth companies through global capital markets. In 2006, NYGG was named “The Best Foreign Investment Banking Firm Serving China’s Middle Markets” by China Securities Daily.

A bilingual Chinese American, Mr. Wey has advised many public and private institutions worldwide on deals and projects related to global capital markets and strategic development. Possessing extensive international business experience, a broad global network and in-depth cultural familiarity, Mr. Wey is a leading U.S. based advisor for companies interested in accessing the Chinese markets and for Chinese companies seeking entree to the global markets.

Mr. Benjamin Wey came to the United States as a teenager on a Valedictorian and full academic scholarship. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and an MBA in Finance. Mr. Wey is a Visiting Professor of Finance at two top Chinese universities – China University of Petroleum and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. He is a member of the Board of Directors at the Cardigan Mountain School – a leading New Hampshire based private boarding school founded in 1945. Mr. Wey is the current Executive Director of China Investment Association, an affiliated entity of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). He is also Senior Economic Advisor to several Chinese cities.

Dedicated to philanthropic efforts, in 2006, Mr. Benjamin Wey was awarded the golden key to the city of Suning in China’s Hebei Province for his leadership in the establishment of an elementary school benefiting poor farm children and orphans. Mr. Wey is frequently quoted in top-tier media and is a regular speaker at various international events.

CONTACT: VINCE BARR, 212-584-4332, vbarr@5wpr.com

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the January edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard. The latest housing figures show increased new and existing home sales as home affordability remains high, but officials caution that the market remains fragile, as prices are unsettled. Foreclosure starts and completions remained low at the year’s end, as lenders continue to review internal servicing procedures.

“Over the last 20 months, the Obama Administration has confronted the nation’s housing crisis with an unprecedented effort to promote stability in the market – keeping millions of families in their homes and helping millions more to save money by refinancing. But the data clearly show that the market remains extremely fragile,” said HUD Assistant Secretary Raphael Bostic. “We know that many responsible homeowners are still fighting to make ends meet. That’s why we’re committed to continuing to provide help to homeowners by implementing the broad range of programs the Obama Administration has put in place.”

“Before the launch of the Administration’s programs, little was done to offer meaningful assistance to homeowners struggling to deal with the worst housing crisis in generations. The data released today demonstrates that the Administration’s programs are reaching middle income homeowners and providing them with real payment relief,” said acting Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad. While we cannot prevent every foreclosure, it is important to remember that these programs have helped to create more options for affordable and sustainable assistance than have ever been available before.”

• Each month, the Housing Scorecard incorporates key housing market indicators and highlights the impact of the Administration’s housing recovery efforts, including assistance to homeowners through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The January Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market including:
• New and existing home sales increased in December, but remained below levels seen in the first half of 2010. Record low mortgage rates continue to keep home affordability at record high levels. However, home prices remain unsettled at this fragile stage of the recovery.
• As lenders review internal procedures related to foreclosure processing, many foreclosure actions have been delayed leading to a lower level of foreclosure activity in December than in prior months. The decline is likely to be temporary as lenders eventually revise and resubmit foreclosure paperwork in the coming months.
• More than 4.1 million modification arrangements were started between April 2009 and the end of December 2010 – more than double the number of foreclosure completions during that time. These actions included more than 1.4 million HAMP trial modification starts, more than 650,000 FHA loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions, and nearly 2 million proprietary modifications under HOPE Now. While some homeowners may have received help from more than one program, the number of agreements offered was more than double the number of foreclosure completions for the same period (1.7 million). View the December HAMP Servicer Performance Report.
• Homeowners in HAMP permanent modifications continue to perform well over time, with re-default rates lower than industry norms. December data for the Making Home Affordable Program (MHA) shows that after 12 months, nearly 85 percent of homeowners remain in a permanent modification. Homeowners in HAMP permanent modifications have already reduced their mortgage obligation by more than $4.5 billion to date.

In a continued commitment to enhanced reporting and transparency, today the Administration also released the Making Home Affordable Data File which includes characteristics of program participants to date, including financial information, mortgage loan information before and after entering HAMP, performance in a HAMP modification, and race/ethnicity data. The MHA Data File offers mortgage loan-level data and is intended to allow for better understanding of the impact of the program.

Key findings that emerged from a preliminary analysis of the MHA Data File include:

• To date, most program participants are moderate and middle income, financially-distressed homeowners who are “underwater” on their mortgages. Borrowers in active permanent HAMP modifications have a median annual income of approximately $46,000; a median credit score of 570 upon entering the trial period; a post-modification loan balance of just over $232,000 and a median mark-to-market loan-to-value (LTV) of 118 percent.
• Of borrowers reporting race and ethnicity, African-Americans account for 18 percent of active permanent modifications and Hispanics account for 26 percent.
• Homeowners in active permanent modifications have seen their monthly mortgage payment cut by a median of approximately 40 percent. Eighteen percent of homeowners in active permanent modifications have reduced their monthly mortgage payment by more than $1,000 each month.

In preparing the MHA Data File, Treasury applied the recommendations of an independent non-profit, non-partisan policy institute to ensure the privacy of participating homeowners. The release of today’s data file fulfills a requirement within the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act to make available loan-level data about the program. Treasury will update the file monthly and will expand reporting to include newer initiatives that are part of Making Home Affordable.

Researchers interested in using the MHA Data File can access the file and user guide at: http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/financial-stability/results/Pages/mha_publicfile.aspx.

The Obama Administration’s complete housing scorecard on the nation’s housing market is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.

The high level of foreclosures is still affecting the US housing market, prompting numerous new laws and regulations, most of which will merely serve to delay the inevitable.  The problem varies from state to state, but here are some recent headlines and news stories about foreclosures in Virginia and other states.

The Richmond Times Dispatch says rural areas in Virginia have been hard hit.

Foreclosures rates in rural areas have doubled since 2008, as people lost their jobs and were unable to make their house payments, according to the report by Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia Inc. More than 200,000 foreclosure notices have been filed in Virginia since 2006, including 60,000 notices of default or repossessions in 2010. Source

Business Week agrees, although both sources are citing a report from “Housing Opportunities Made Equal,” a non-profit based in Virginia. The report states

In 2010, the largest increase in foreclosure filings occurred in rural Virginia

•Foreclosure filings eased slightly at the end of 2010, mostly because of moratoriums from large national lenders so they could sort out mortgage servicing issues.

• –Without these moratoriums that were put in place, Virginia would have seen the largest number of foreclosure filings since the beginning of the Great Recession.

•Since 2006, there have been over 200,000 foreclosure filings in Virginia and more than 60,000 in 2010 alone.

•Foreclosure rates in rural areas have nearly doubled since 2008, while rates in urban areas have remained fairly consistent.

•High foreclosure volume has revealed some significant mortgage servicing issues. A survey of housing counselors has found significant servicing issues statewide.

•In 2009, nearly four out of every five mortgage loans were sold to an investor –the highest rate since at least 2004. Since 2004, more than sixty percent of mortgage loans have been sold to an investor within one year of origination.

• –This further complicates the mortgage recordation process and may create mortgage servicing issues in the future that may lead to more faulty foreclosures.

The full report (PDF)  is available here.

A VA House subcommittee recently decided to kill a bill that might have slowed the pace of mortgage foreclosures in Virginia. MyFoxDc reports,

With one dissent on an unrecorded show-of-hands vote as the powerful banking lobby looked on, a Commerce and Labor subcommittee sent the bills for more study by an obscure gubernatorial task force.

The action included all House bills addressing what Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, calls “drive-by foreclosures.”

Delegate Bob Marshall’s bill, which was before the 11-member panel, would have extended the foreclosure notice requirement from 14 days to 45. It would also require that loan and property records be recorded in local courthouses.

“What you saw in there was government of the banks, by the banks and for the banks,” Marshall, R-Prince William, said afterward. Source

Across the country, buying a home is steadily becoming cheaper than renting one. With increased demand for rental accommodation as more families are evicted, combined with the banks holding steadily increasing housing stocks as “shadow inventory,” the gap continues to widen and according to Trulia, it is now cheaper to buy than rent in 72% of major US cities – assuming you can raise the financing. Short sales continue to be a growth business, but be wary of a hidden tax burden if you are the seller. The IRS considers and money written off from your loan to be a monetary “gift,” with tax due.

The foreclosure problem continues to grow, despite a lull in the proceedings during December 2010 as local state banks were forced to actually follow the law when foreclosing. RealtyTrac says a record number of foreclosure filings were made in 2010 – 2.9 million. Shocking figures. This is a quote from their recent press release:

“Total properties receiving foreclosure filings would have easily exceeded 3 million in 2010 had it not been for the fourth quarter drop in foreclosure activity — triggered primarily by the continuing controversy surrounding foreclosure documentation and procedures that prompted many major lenders to temporarily halt some foreclosure proceedings,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Even so, 2010 foreclosure activity still hit a record high for our report, and many of the foreclosure proceedings that were stopped in late 2010 — which we estimate may be as high as a quarter million — will likely be re-started and add to the numbers in early 2011.” Full release

This is – of course – also adding to the “shadow inventory,” of homes certain to come on the market, but stalled in some way.

According to Mike Larson, real estate and interest rate analyst at Weiss Research, existing home sales surged in December but do not herald a return to the halcyon boom days due to the level of foreclosures for sale and the “shadow inventory,” of repossessed houses not yet for sale. This is the latest analysis from Weiss:

• Sales surged 12.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.28 million from 4.7 million units in November. That was far better than the 4.87 million SAAR economists were expecting, and it leaves home sales at the highest rate since May.
• By property type, sales jumped 11.8% in the single-family market and 16.4% in the condo and coop arena. By region, sales gained at a double digit rate across the board. They gained 10.1% in the South, 11% in the Midwest and 13% in the Northeast, and 16.7% in the West.
• The number of homes for sale fell 4.2% to 3.56 million from 3.72 million in November. That was up from 3.283 million a year ago, however. But the strength in sales helped pushed the months supply at current sales pace indicator of inventory down to 8.1 from 9.5, the lowest since March. Median home prices dipped 0.8% to $168,800 from $170,200 a month earlier. That was a 1% change from year-ago levels.

The housing market continues to show signs of life, with building permits, confidence, and now sales perking up. Indeed, single-family sales activity shot up at the fastest pace in any month going all the way back to January 1983. The gains were widespread regionally as well, and that helped reduce the backlog of unsold homes somewhat. I credit the improved tone of the labor market, a pick up in buyer confidence, and a budding sense the worst might be over for home pricing.

At the same time, we’re still talking about a market with more than three and a half million homes officially for sale. You have quite a bit of “shadow inventory” behind that, and foreclosures continuing to be parceled out into the market over time. So I don’t anticipate we’re going to see consistent, large gains like we did last month. It will be more of a gradual improvement in the tenor of the data over the course of 2011.

Weiss research