Secondary Market

The American Legal & Financial Network (ALFN) recently released a brief statement announcing the resignation of the organization's current president and CEO, William LeRoy. The Missouri-based group extended few details surrounding LeRoy's departure, but the ALFN did indicate that LeRoy's resignation would be effective immediately.

Interest rates for the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage plunged to 3.72 percent this week on new concerns about debt crises in Europe, according to real estate company Zillow. In releasing the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, the Web site found that interest rates for the 15-year loan also fell to 3.01 percent, alongside 2.63 percent for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages. Mortgage rates remain low despite uplifting news from the continent, where 25 eurozone nations signed off on a new fiscal pact Monday.

Mortgage originations fell from a peak in September last year to hit 10.1 percent in December, according to Lender Processing Services. Revealing the latest data in December Mortgage Monitor report, the company also said that loans originated over the last two years consistently showed high quality, which it attributes to tighter lending and underwriting guidelines. LPS Applied Analytics said that risk attributes stayed near minimal levels, with credit quality for borrowers averaging 750 in 2011.

The latest analysis from a Fiserv Case-Shiller index said Monday that home prices could slide back by 3.6 percent this year, and may not completely pick up until the first half of 2013. Fiserv, Inc. found a double-dip that began last summer stretching into last fall as home prices declined in 340 of 384 metropolitan areas surveyed by the technology provider. It said some 302 areas slammed into new lows, and projected that home prices will fall in southerly direction this year before climbing by 2.4 percent over the second quarter next year.

A new federal task group set up to investigate residential mortgage-backed securities fraud made progress Friday when officials signed off on subpoenas for 11 undisclosed financial institutions. Numerous high-ranking federal officials joined New York Attorney General and co-chair Eric Schneiderman at a press conference to outline the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, which President Barack Obama announced he would form during his State of the Union address Thursday.

In Colorado, MountainView Servicing Group has announced the upcoming sale of an estimated $129 million in Ginnie Mae mortgage servicing rights. The servicing portfolio will go on the block on Tuesday, January 31, at noon (EST). MountainView's servicing portfolio auction encompasses 566 loans, and most of the loans - around 99 percent - are Federal Housing Administration fixed-rate mortgages.

Federal and state regulators shuttered four banks Friday, including one in Florida, another in Minnesota, and two in Tennessee. State regulators appointed the FDIC receiver in all cases, resulting in more than $600 million in accumulated costs for the Deposit Insurance Fund. The four newest bank failures raise the national tally to seven so far in 2012. Bank failures ended last year by hitting 92, down from 157 seen in 2010. An FDIC spokesperson says that 2010 signaled a high-water mark for closures.

As the new year chugs along, Central Pacific Financial Corp. (CPF) has added to its leadership with the announcement that Duane K. Kurisu will join the company's board of directors. With his appointment to CPF's board, Kurisu will now be serving as a director for both CPF and company subsidiary, Central Pacific Bank (CPB).

According to a recent report from the Center for Community Capital at the University of North Carolina, the new regulations surrounding qualified-residential mortgages will require creditworthy borrowers to take on a heavier financial burden when purchasing a mortgage, and many potential buyers may be pushed out of the mortgage market altogether. The controversial QRM rule, which is contained in the Dodd-Frank Act, has been the subject of lengthy debates since it was first proposed, and the regulatory move is largely unpopular both on Capitol Hill and Wall Street.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported a 1.0 percent rise in U.S. house prices between the timeframe of October to November. The previously reported 0.2 percent decrease in October was revised downward to reflect a 0.7 percent decrease, according to FHFA. Dr. Alex Villacorta of Clear Capital delivered insights on the recent findings, stating in part, "As this index is calculated using sale prices from only the conforming loan segment of the market, it has a tendency to understate both gains and losses than the broader market."