News

Now that Obama has won a second term, his administration is charged with leading phase two of the housing recovery.

Mortgage loan delinquencies increased 7.72 percent from August to September--the largest monthly increase since 2008, according to a report from Lender Processing Services (LPS). The upturn was substantial, even for a month historically marked by seasonal rises in delinquency, LPS said. However, company analysts say it is important to look at the longer-term trend, which shows a significant decrease in the delinquency rate since its January 2010 peak.

It's been a tumultuous couple of weeks for Americans, but mortgage rates have been rock-steady.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 8,000 to 363,000 for the week ended November 3, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected 370,000 initial claims filing. It was the third straight weekly decline and the fifth drop in the last seven weeks.

Retreat Capital Management, an Irvine, California-based provider of advisory services and component servicing for the mortgage servicing industry, announced it has increased its employee based by 241 percent so far in 2012.

Sabal Financial Group, L.P. hired Jason Hull as the director of business development to help the company continue seeing growth. Hull will be tasked with developing areas of Sabal's business, such as commercial real estate investments and all types of third party services.

In sunny Naples, Florida, the winter retreat belonging to high-profile Boston, Massachusetts, resident Jack Connors has hit the market for $22.9 million. Connors, who the Boston Globe calls a legendary Boston power broker, is believed to have purchased the home for an estimated $16 million in 2006, according to Curbed.

Government agencies are continuing their regulatory investigation of mortgage activities at Wells Fargo and Wachovia, according to a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Wells Fargo absorbed Wachovia in 2008 when Wachovia's shaky mortgage portfolio threatened the bank's soundness. The government is looking into activities regarding mortgage origination and securitization, including risk disclosures at Wachovia.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) has appointed a leader for its newly-formed strategic planning committee. The group recently announced that Randy Gillis, VP of enterprise information management for the servicing solutions and technology unit of Lender Processing Services, Inc., will join MISMO as chair for the committee.

The vast majority of homeowners who refinanced in Q3 2012 either maintained or slashed their loan debt, according to a release from Freddie Mac.