Team Thayer Property Servicing

The future of housing in America can seem so close, yet so far away, but government officials and housing experts are already hot on the case making their evaluations of the present state of the market and predictions for the future. HUD  Secretary Julián Castro discussed the future of housing Wednesday in a  discussion forum , which highlighted issues surrounding affordable housing across America. Other speakers in the discussion included: David Adame, President and CEO, Chicanos Por La Causa; Lisa Belkin, Author and HBO Consultant, "Show Me A Hero", HBO; Mark Calabria, Director of Financial Regulation Studies, Cato Institute; Eileen Fitzgerald, President, Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future; and Chris Herbert, Managing Director, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, among many others. In the discussion, Secretary Castro first addressed the state of the housing market today by shining some light on the headliner topic of affordability issues. HUD...

Fannie Mae   announced on Thursday  the completion of another risk sharing transaction as part of an ongoing effort to reduce risk to the taxpayer by increasing the role of private capital in the mortgage market. This transaction is the fourth in Fannie Mae's Credit Insurance Risk Transfer ( CIRT ) series, and third since the start of 2015. In the CIRT series, credit risk for a pool of loans is transferred to a panel of reinsurers. The latest transaction, named CIRT-2015-3, included international reinsurers for the second time in four transactions, according to Fannie Mae. The transaction became effective on August 21, 2015. "As the leading manager of single-family residential credit risk in the industry, we are focused on building a safer, sustainable housing system and our CIRT deals help these efforts," said Rob Schaefer, VP for credit enhancement strategy & management. "Reinsurers seem to understand and appreciate our approach to managing credit risk ...

While both non-foreclosure mortgage solutions and completed foreclosures were down over the year in July, the ratio remained virtually the same—more than four solutions for every foreclosure sale, according to  data for July 2015  released by non-profit alliance  HOPE NOW . The mortgage industry reported about 122,000 non-foreclosure solutions (including short sales, deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, and other workout plans) for July, while about 29,000 foreclosures were completed. These numbers compare with 157,000 and 39,500, respectively, for July 2014, according to HOPE NOW. "At the end of June, the mortgage industry hit significant milestones for loan solutions and proprietary loan mods—24 million and six million respectively," said Eric Selk, Executive Director of HOPE NOW. "Based on July’s data, it is clear that servicers continue to work with customers to offer the best options —whether they are permanent, short term or liquidation. In fact, looking at the ye...

Nationwide REO inventory is approximately one-third of what it was at its peak in early 2009 at the depth of the housing crisis. What will it mean for banks when the steadily declining REO inventory falls down to its "normal" pre-crisis level in less than two years, as is expected? What type of shifts or diversification is the mortgage industry experiencing right now as REO inventory continues to spiral downward? At the REO Lab at the  2015 Five Star Conference and Expo  on Friday in Dallas, industry experts discussed how to get ahead and stay informed and equipped to take on the new REO marketplace. Team Thayer Real Estate News The first panel of the lab, "True State of REO: Market Analysis and Shadow Inventory," included Roger Beane, President and CEO of LRES Corporation; Sharon Bartlett, Director of Vendor Services at Freddie Mac; and Clay Lehman, Principal, Resolute Asset Management. Beane said the future of REO, and of housing in general, could be...

Fannie Mae has introduced HomeReady™ mortgage, our enhanced affordable lending product. HomeReady is designed for creditworthy, low- to moderate-income borrowers, with expanded eligibility for financing homes in designated low-income, minority, and disaster-impacted communities. HomeReady will be available later this year, with details to be released in late September. Key HomeReady features include: Accessible and sustainable financing  up to 97% LTV for a home purchase with no first-time buyer requirement. Flexible sources of funds can be used  for the down payment and closing costs with no minimum contribution required from the borrower's own funds for 1-unit properties. Underwriting flexibilities  include an  innovative new feature that supports extended family households  by considering income from a non-borrower household member as a compensating factor in Desktop Underwriter® to allow for a debt-to-income ratio above 45% up to 50%. Required homeo...

The housing market has made its way back from crisis times, but investors still face unexpected challenges. The key to investors' ability to capitalize on opportunities that exist is knowledge. Participants in the  Investment Lab  at the 12th Annual  Five Star Conference and Expo  on September 17 delved into the investment strategies and discussed how to be successful in a highly competitive market. Industry panelists from a number of companies came together in the lab to talk about regulation, non-depository lending, mortgage servicing rights, and REO to loan products in the three and a half hour lab. Team Thayer Housing News Eugene Oregon The director of the lab, David Tobin, a principal at one of the industry's most respected loan sale advisory firms,  Mission Capital Advisors . Tobin has extensive experience in loan sale advisory transactions, investment banking and commercial real estate debt, and equity raising. To kick off the conversat...

Despite recent market volatility, economic growth in the second half of the year is expected to improve, according to data released by Fannie Mae on Wednesday. Fannie Mae's  Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group  found that consumer spending and other solid domestic fundamentals are predicted to be key drivers of the rest of the year economic growth. “Our forecast for the year is largely unchanged despite recent market volatility. Fundamentals are positive, suggesting potential for some improvement in the fourth quarter,” said Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. Various data reports over the last month reveal positive economic activity despite stock market volatility, Fannie Mae explained. According to the research and the Bureau of Labor Statistics job report, consumer spending rose in July and August, while full-time employment exceeded its pre-recession peak. “On balance, growth in the second half of the year is expected to come in higher, albeit ...

Approximately three-quarters of a million single-family residential homes  regained equity in the second quarter of 2015 , bringing the nationwide total of mortgaged residential properties with equity up to 45.9 million (91 percent), according to data released by  CoreLogic  on Tuesday. The number of homes regaining equity totaled about 759,000 for Q2, which translated to a year-over-year increase in borrower equity of about $691 million for the quarter, according to CoreLogic. About 8.7 percent of all residential homes with a mortgage, or about 4.4 million properties, were in negative equity in Q2 2015– both declines from 10.9 percent and 5.4 million from the same quarter a year earlier. "For much of the country, the negative equity epidemic is lifting. The biggest reason for this improvement has been the relentless rise in home prices over the past three years which reflects increasing money flows into housing and a lack of housing stock in many markets," said A...

TEAM THAYER REAL ESTATE NEWS Statistically speaking, housing is on a roll. Year-to-date home sales are up 6.3 percent and prices in May were 7.9 percent higher than a year earlier. The trends are expected to stay positive and are likely to boost business dollar volume by as much as 15 percent in 2015. These statistics don't even include new-home construction, which is growing at a strong clip as well. But this rosy picture does raise concerns about affordability. After all, wages are rising by only 2 percent annually and renters are getting squeezed, having to endure 4 percent rate hikes while home prices accelerate more quickly. In addition, mortgage rates have notched their highest level of the year, reaching about 4 percent in June, and should continue to rise well into next year. Some armchair analysts have suggested that we’re entering a new housing market bubble. But hard facts suggest otherwise. Underlying conditions today are fundamentally different from ...

There is no denying that the latest recession to hit America is still fresh on the minds of those that lived through it. In fact, the wake of the downturn still resonates on more levels than one. At the very least, people have made a conscious effort not to repeat the very transgressions that put us here in the first place. Now that the recovery has finally gained traction, however, people are worried that today’s appreciation rates are eerily reminiscent of those that led to the last meltdown. Instead of fearing what the real estate industry has in store, investors should be embracing the current situation. “Real estate is Americans’ preferred investment for money that they won’t need for at least 10 years and that hasn’t changed,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “Nervous investors always look to real estate rather than shy away from it in times of volatility.” Now is actually a great time to invest. Our partners at  CT Homes  have found tha...