The Federal Reserve's role as buttress and benefactor of the nation's mortgage debt market came to an end Wednesday. Since November 2008, the central bank has been the market's No. 1 patron, buying up $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities. Fears have surfaced that the Fed's exit could leave a gaping hole in the secondary market, causing interest rates for home loans to spike and buyer demand to dwindle. But analysts say private investors will pick up the slack and rates will rise less than a quarter of a percentage point over the next quarter.
In its 12-month home price forecast issued Wednesday, Veros Real Estate Solutions said it had "continued bad news for Florida." Markets in the Sunshine State claimed the top five spots on the company's list of areas where prices are expected to drop the most over the next year. One of the other big bust states - California - shows more promise, according to Veros' analysis. The Golden State is home to three of the five markets the company expects to post the strongest price gains over the next 12 months.
New data from HOPE NOW shows that servicers completed more than 95,000 loan modifications through their own proprietary programs in February. That's almost double the 52,000 modifications finalized under the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) during the same month. The report also showed declines in the number of 60-day delinquencies and foreclosure starts and sales.
Economic factors, such as unemployment and consumers' controlled spending, continue to weigh heavy on the commercial real estate sector and drag down fundamentals, but the rate of deterioration appears to be moderating, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Wednesday. The volume of commercial property sales picked up at the end of last year and prices are beginning to show stabilization, but MBA also noted that vacancy rates continue to increase across all property types and delinquencies are still climbing.
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