Your Daily Dose from DSNews.com

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Treasury Releases Guidance for Making Home Affordable Short Sales Amidst the high-profile news Monday about the administration's push to make more loan modifications permanent, the Treasury also laid out finalized guidelines for short sales. The administration is urging servicers to use short sales as an alternative to foreclosure for those homeowners that don't qualify for a reworked mortgage under the Home Affordable Modification Program. To entice servicers, Treasury will pay out $1,000 for each successful short sale. Pending Home Sales Hit Highest Mark in More than 3 Years: NAR The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Tuesday that its index of home sales contracts is up yet again, representing the ninth straight month that pending sales have recorded a rise - the longest run of increases since NAR began tracking sales agreements back in 2001. Perhaps even more noteworthy is that the latest reading is the highest on record since March 2006 and is nearly 32 percent above October 2008. The rise from a year ago is the biggest annual increase ever posted for NAR's pending sales index. Default Rate for Bank-Held Commercial Mortgages Increases: Real Estate Econometrics In the most recent report by New York-based Real Estate Econometrics (reeconometrics), the property research firm updated its projections, predicting the default rate for bank-held commercial mortgages will rise to 4.0 percent by the end of 2009 and will peak in 2011. Already defaults on commercial real estate mortgages held by depository institutions has hit a 16-year high. Lend America Loses FHA Approval, Defaulted by Ginnie Mae Ideal Mortgage Bankers (Ideal), doing business as Lend America and Lending Key, lost approval from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Monday after being faulted for poor underwriting and false certifications. The action, which will take effect immediately, prevents Ideal from originating or underwriting new FHA-insured mortgages and from participating in the FHA single family insurance program. You are receving this email because you opted in at our website dsnews.com or attended a Five Star Conference. Unsubscribe roballey.434-974-5586@blogger.com from this list. Corporate Office: DS News 1909 Woodall Rodgers Suite 300 Dallas, TX 75201 Add us to your address book Washington Bureau: 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20004 Copyright (C) 2009 DS News All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile QUICK LINKS DSNews.com DS News' Red Book DS News' Black Book 2009 Five Star Conference DARE

Market Comment

Mortgage Bonds are slightly lower this morning, while Stocks have moved higher.
In the news, the Pending Home Sales report came in better than expected, and the Institute of Supply Manager's Index was reported slightly lower than expected. Thus far, the reports have not impacted Bonds.
Currently, Bond prices remain overbought, as they have for the past few weeks. I recommend floating for now to see how prices behave near the current ceiling of resistance, but be prepared to lock if they move lower.

Leonard. Winslow. Dominion Trust Mortgage
434-760-2580 (cell)
leonard.winslow@dominiontrustmortgage.com
www.dominiontrustmortgage.com/leonard.winslow
Licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. License #: MC-5112.

Market Comment

Mortgage Bonds are slightly lower this morning, while Stocks have moved higher.
In the news, the Pending Home Sales report came in better than expected, and the Institute of Supply Manager's Index was reported slightly lower than expected. Thus far, the reports have not impacted Bonds.
Currently, Bond prices remain overbought, as they have for the past few weeks. I recommend floating for now to see how prices behave near the current ceiling of resistance, but be prepared to lock if they move lower.

Leonard. Winslow. Dominion Trust Mortgage
434-760-2580 (cell)
leonard.winslow@dominiontrustmortgage.com
www.dominiontrustmortgage.com/leonard.winslow
Licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. License #: MC-5112.

Your Daily Dose from DSNews.com

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Servicers Face Penalties, Ill Repute as Administration Rallies for More Modifications Many critics argue that the pace of the Making Home Affordable program isn't keeping stride with the nation's raging foreclosure problem, so the Obama administration announced Monday that it is taking a new approach to pressure servicers into converting more trial modifications to permanent status. Servicers who don't complete enough workouts will now be subject to monetary penalties and sanctions. Treasury officials also said they plan to openly wag their federal fingers at those servicers who are too slow in churning out permanent mortgage mods by publicizing their names. New Rules to Strengthen Risk Management Proposed by FHA In an effort to further reduce risks to its single-family insurance fund which continues to play a critical role in today's housing market, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) proposed new regulations on Monday in order to boost lender oversight, tighten controls, and streamline lender approval. NAR Funds Local Realtor Affordable Housing Activities Through its Housing Opportunity Fund grants program, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently announced the disbursement of $50,950 to 16 local and state Realtor associations, in an effort to promote and expand local affordable housing opportunities in communities across the nation. Portland Mortgage Fraud Criminal Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison After pleading guilty in February 2009 to a single count of conspiring to make false statements to financial institutions, Lee Howlett was sentenced Tuesday to 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Howlett, who previously operated Taylor Made Mortgage in Portland, Oregon, submitted 14 false loan applications in connection with the purchase or refinancing of seven properties during a two-and-a-half year period between 2003 and 2005. You are receving this email because you opted in at our website dsnews.com or attended a Five Star Conference. Unsubscribe roballey.434-974-5586@blogger.com from this list. Corporate Office: DS News 1909 Woodall Rodgers Suite 300 Dallas, TX 75201 Add us to your address book Washington Bureau: 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20004 Copyright (C) 2009 DS News All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile QUICK LINKS DSNews.com DS News' Red Book DS News' Black Book 2009 Five Star Conference DARE

Your Daily Dose from DSNews.com

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Servicers Face Penalties, Ill Repute as Administration Rallies for More Modifications Many critics argue that the pace of the Making Home Affordable program isn't keeping stride with the nation's raging foreclosure problem, so the Obama administration announced Monday that it is taking a new approach to pressure servicers into converting more trial modifications to permanent status. Servicers who don't complete enough workouts will now be subject to monetary penalties and sanctions. Treasury officials also said they plan to openly wag their federal fingers at those servicers who are too slow in churning out permanent mortgage mods by publicizing their names. New Rules to Strengthen Risk Management Proposed by FHA In an effort to further reduce risks to its single-family insurance fund which continues to play a critical role in today's housing market, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) proposed new regulations on Monday in order to boost lender oversight, tighten controls, and streamline lender approval. NAR Funds Local Realtor Affordable Housing Activities Through its Housing Opportunity Fund grants program, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently announced the disbursement of $50,950 to 16 local and state Realtor associations, in an effort to promote and expand local affordable housing opportunities in communities across the nation. Portland Mortgage Fraud Criminal Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison After pleading guilty in February 2009 to a single count of conspiring to make false statements to financial institutions, Lee Howlett was sentenced Tuesday to 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Howlett, who previously operated Taylor Made Mortgage in Portland, Oregon, submitted 14 false loan applications in connection with the purchase or refinancing of seven properties during a two-and-a-half year period between 2003 and 2005. You are receving this email because you opted in at our website dsnews.com or attended a Five Star Conference. Unsubscribe roballey.434-974-5586@blogger.com from this list. Corporate Office: DS News 1909 Woodall Rodgers Suite 300 Dallas, TX 75201 Add us to your address book Washington Bureau: 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20004 Copyright (C) 2009 DS News All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile QUICK LINKS DSNews.com DS News' Red Book DS News' Black Book 2009 Five Star Conference DARE

Your Daily Dose from DSNews.com

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Commercial Property Prices Sink to 2002 Levels: Report It's undoubtedly a buyers' market in the commercial real estate sector. Values of commercial properties in the United States have fallen to levels not seen in seven years, according to Moody's Investors Service. The latest release of the Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Index shows a decline of 3.9 percent from August to September, with real estate values now 43 percent below the index's peak in October 2007. Freddie Mac Expects to See "Significant" Losses from Taylor Bean Collapse The fall of Taylor Bean & Whitaker has sent ripples through the mortgage lending industry. Even the nation's second largest mortgage company, Freddie Mac, is feeling the effects. The government-controlled mortgage financier says it has more than $1 billion in assets tied to the now defunct Taylor Bean and warns that losses related to the company's bankruptcy "could be significant." FDIC Fund Slides into the Red as Banks Pull Back Lending The overwhelming number of bank failures since the onset of the nation's financial crisis have pushed the FDIC's insurance fund into negative territory. The agency has announced that its reserve used to protect consumers' deposits when a financial institution goes under is $8.2 billion in the hole. But the hits didn't stop there. The FDIC also said in its quarterly assessment of the nation's banking landscape that banks' cut lending in Q3 by the largest amount since the government began tracking loan activity in 1984. Fannie Mae Introduces 'First Look' Initiative In an effort to support neighborhood stabilization and provide owner occupants and public entities an advantage in purchasing Fannie Mae-owned foreclosed properties, the company has announced the launch of its First Look Initiative. Through Fannie Mae's First Look, only offers from owner occupants and buyers using public funds will be considered during the first 15 days a property is on the market. You are receving this email because you opted in at our website dsnews.com or attended a Five Star Conference. Unsubscribe roballey.434-974-5586@blogger.com from this list. Corporate Office: DS News 1909 Woodall Rodgers Suite 300 Dallas, TX 75201 Add us to your address book Washington Bureau: 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20004 Copyright (C) 2009 DS News All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile QUICK LINKS DSNews.com DS News' Red Book DS News' Black Book 2009 Five Star Conference DARE