Servicers are working faster and more diligently to convert trial modifications to permanent status under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). But the bitter truth is that some homeowners won't qualify for long-term relief even after successfully making their trial payments. To offer these homeowners another option, Fannie Mae is instituting the "Alternative Modification" (Alt Mod) and requiring all its servicers to evaluate a borrower for the new solution before proceeding with foreclosure.
The Treasury has committed $50 billion of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to pay servicers for helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. New estimates released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show that the administration is expected to use no more than $20 billion for servicer incentives when all is said and done - indicating that HAMP will help far fewer distressed homeowners than originally promised.
For the first time in two years, commercial real estate investors are expressing a renewed sense of optimism about the future. Based on their responses to a quarterly survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, investors believe the worst has passed and a commercial real estate recovery is on the horizon. According to the survey findings, investors believe owners and lenders are finally coming to grips with what assets are truly worth, and as a result they expect sales activity in 2010 to be a marked improvement over 2009.
Notice of defaults, which represent the start of the foreclosure process in California, increased by 19.7 percent in February, according to new data released this week by a locally-based company that tracks every foreclosure in the state. The sudden jump comes after four straight months of declines, when default notices fell to their lowest level in a year. The about-face has quickly quelled any ideas that California might be starting to make its way out of a crippling housing crisis.
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