News

Hammerhouse LLC announced it has expanded its Eastern U.S. headquarters and brought on additional staff in order to meet the increased demands of its growing client base.

Mortgage Marketplace is one of Zillow's app suite that features 15 realestate-related mobile apps across all major platforms. The app provides a transparent lending marketplace where borrowers can connect to reputable lenders to find personalized loan options and get a variety of competitive mortgage rates.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac servicers will be able to skip a step when attempting to get a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure approved. On Wednesday, the GSEs announced standard delegation agreements were reached with nine mortgage insurers to allow servicers to complete short sales and deeds-in-lieu without seeking approval from the mortgage insurer. The agreement takes effect November 1. The short sale or deed-in-lieu still has to meet the GSEs' requirements, but servicers don't have to wait for mortgage insurers to offer their stamp of approval.

The Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation (PenFed Foundation) is on track to give away a record number of grants this year through its Dream Makers program.

The GSEs and HUD are rolling out relief strategies for borrowers caught in the devastation brought on by Hurricane Sandy.

Relisting his pricey pad in the Hamptons, artist Ross Bleckner has put his palatial estate on the market for $15 million. Located in Sagaponack, New York, Bleckner's abode boasts multiple structures, including a main home with an ocean view, a cedar-shingled guest cottage, and an art studio.

Federal regulators released a notice Tuesday stating their support for financial institutions operating in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. They both encouraged affected institutions to work to meet the needs of their communities and expressed their lenience on certain reporting and publishing requirements for those institutions.

The U.S. housing market "has entered a sustainable period of improving conditions," Pro Teck Valuations CEO Tom O'Grady says in the company's most recent Home Value Forecast. Each of the company's forecasts picks a housing trend and studies its influence on the market. This particular update shines a spotlight on months of remaining inventory (MRI) of new homes listed for sale and examines how that statistic affects median single family home price changes.

Mortgagebot has seen 800,000 online mortgage loan applications pass through its system year-to-date as of the end of September.

Ernst Publishing Company, based in Albany, New York, has just released a new real estate closing cost data search engine called Smart Query II. Having provided closing cost data to the industry for 20 years, Ernst updated its offering to include additional data and provide information faster than before.