Today’s News Synopsis:
According to the MBA, the delinquency rate for CMBS increased by 1.63 percent during the last half of 2009. Statistics from RealtyTrac show that 2 percent fewer homes entered the foreclosure process in February. Nineteen percent of home listings experienced a price reduction since March 1st.
In The News:
Mortgage Bankers Association – “MBA Report Shows Economic Fallout Continues to Impact Commercial Real Estate Markets/Delinquencies in 4th Quarter 2009″ (3-11-10)
“Between the third and fourth quarters, the 30+ day delinquency rate on loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) rose 1.63 percentage points to 5.69 percent. The 60+ day delinquency rate on loans held in life company portfolios decreased 0.04 percentage points to 0.19 percent. The 60+ day delinquency rate on multifamily loans held or insured by Fannie Mae rose 0.01 percentage points to 0.63 percent. The 90+ day delinquency rate on multifamily loans held or insured by Freddie Mac increased 0.04 percentage points to 0.15 percent. The 90+day delinquency rate on loans held by FDIC-insured banks and thrifts rose 0.49 percentage points to 3.92 percent.”
LA Times – “Fewer homes enter foreclosure process in February” (3-11-10)
“The number of homes caught up in some stage of the foreclosure process in February fell 2% from the previous month to 308,524, a real estate firm will report Thursday. That number is up 6% compared with the same month a year earlier but marked the smallest year-over-year increase since January 2006, according to RealtyTrac Inc.”
Housing Wire – “Sellers Cut Fewer Listing Prices as Home Price Declines Slow” (3-11-10)
“Fewer US homes for sale experienced listing price reductions this month, according to online real estate market Trulia.com. It’s further indication of a leveling out in listing price declines amid government stimulus to buy homes. A new low of 19% of listings currently on the market experienced a price cut as of March 1, 2010, based on Trulia’s database of live listings. Sellers slashed $21.6bn off of listing prices.”
Housing Wire – “COP Cites Missed Opportunities in Federal Bailout of GMAC” (3-11-10)
“GMAC, once the credit arm of General Motors and now the 14th largest bank holding company in the US, could have been placed into bankruptcy and its costly subsidiary operations wound-down, the Panel said.”
Housing Wire – “FDIC Pricing Second Round of ABS” (3-11-10)
“The second round of structured financed notes being issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) is being priced today. The news comes after the successful launch of the FDIC project to use structured finance as a way to profit from the certain assets of failed banks. It is believed the FDIC is cherry-picking the best performing loans to sell to investors as asset-backed securities (ABS).”
Housing Wire – “Jumbo RMBS Delinquencies Nearing Third Year of Rises” (3-11-10)
“The prime jumbo mortgage market, especially in California and Florida, continues to deteriorate in the residential-mortgage backed securities (RMBS) space, posting rising 60-day or more delinquencies for the 33rd consecutive month, according to Fitch Ratings. And to jumbo market players, the trend is expected to continue for some time.”
Housing Wire – “Weekly Mortgage Rates Dip Again” (3-11-10)
“Freddie Mac’s (FRE: 1.30 -0.76%) weekly survey put the average rate for a 30-year FRM at 4.95% with an average 0.7 origination point for the week ending March 11, down from the previous week when it was 4.97%. A year ago, Freddie’s survey averaged 5.03%.”
Housing Wire – “Storm Brews Over Short Sale Valuations as the Mortgage Market Prepares for HAFA” (3-11-10)
“A storm is brewing between appraisers and broker price opinion (BPO) professionals vying for valuation work for short sales conducted through the Making Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program. The Appraisal Institute — a trade group that represents appraisers — released a public letter it wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday, calling for an end of the practice of using BPOs for Making Home Affordable modifications and refinancings, as well as amending the rules for the upcoming HAFA program to require appraisals to determine value for government-incentivized short sales.”
Bloomberg - “REIT Chief Executives See Strengthening Market for Asset Sales” (3-11-10)
“Investors with abundant cash and few deals to chase are driving up commercial property prices, real estate chief executive officers said today.”
Bloomberg - “Apartment Vacancy Rates in U.S. to Decline in 2010, CBRE Says” (3-11-10)
“Apartment vacancies in the U.S., which reached a record high of 7.4 percent in 2009, will fall this year as job losses stabilize and fewer new rental homes enter the market, CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. said. The vacancy rate will decline to 6.8 percent in 2010, the property broker said in a report today. Effective rents, or what tenants pay after concessions, will end the year less than 1 percent down from the fourth quarter of 2009. Rents fell 4.7 percent in the final quarter of last year from a year earlier. “