2009 has been one of the most significant years in the default servicing industry to date. DS News would like to look back on the year that was, and the Secondary Market-related stories that were most read and left the biggest impact on viewers. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is set to announce its purchase of a major mortgage servicer, Wilshire Credit Corp., from Bank of America, sources familiar with the matter told DS News over the weekend. Details of the rumored deal are scant, but it would mark a major addition to IBM's information empire, the sources said. IBM says it is looking to have a presence in the mortgage market, where technology-based service providers have been under increasing pressure to accommodate rising modification and foreclosure volumes.
As the economic recovery kicks off, executives at Citigroup Inc. are working on a strategy to reduce the federal government's 34-percent stake in the banking giant - a plan that would ultimately turn a profit for the taxpayers who funded the bailout in the first place. Washington officials confirmed that they'd had weekend talks with Citigroup and said they don't have a problem with unloading some of their 7.7 billion shares in the New York firm, as long as it is able to raise offsetting capital. Citi says it can provide that capital, and then some.
The ideal time to invest in commercial real estate is 2010 - that's when commercial property prices will hit bottom, according to a recently published survey of industry investors, developers, lenders, brokers, and consultants. The yearly study, released last week by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute, says commercial real estate players predict property values to ultimately drop 40 to 50 percent from 2007 market peaks, making 2010 and 2011 the opportune time for investors to buy at or near cyclical lows.
Investors anticipate further deterioration in the underlying fundamentals of the commercial real estate industry through the remainder of 2009 and into 2010 as investors remain on the sidelines, a new survey shows. Those seeking to acquire quality assets at distressed prices are hoping that near-term defaults and looming due dates will jump-start buying opportunities that so far have been absent.
Banks lost $3.7 billion in the second quarter, the FDIC reported. Write-offs for bad loans totaling $48 billion pulled the industry results into negative territory. The names of 111 institutions landed on the FDIC's "problem list," bringing the total number of banks being watched by the agency to 416. That means 5 percent of the nation's banks are at risk of collapse. With the FDIC shelling out billions to cover bank failures, its insurance fund has been severely depleted.
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