Your Daily Dose from DSNews.com

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Existing-Home Sales Record Another Big Gain as Inventories Shrink Driven largely by the federal government's first-time homebuyer tax credit, existing-home sales showed another big gain in October, while inventories continued to decline, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Monday. Sales of previously owned homes have trended steadily upward for seven months now. According to NAR's market data, resales of single-family residences, townhomes, condos, and co-op properties surged 10.1 percent to an annual rate of 6.10 million units in October, compared to a 5.54 million unit sales pace in September. NAR says sales activity is the highest it's been since February 2007. Bank of America Readies $460 Million CMBS for Sale Last week marked the first sale of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) in more than a year and already it seems to have sparked renewed interest in the previously stagnant secondary market for commercial real estate. Bank of America is pulling together the market's second new CMBS deal - a $460 million issuance backed by office and industrial properties in Florida. With this recent movement coming to what was previously a firmly gridlocked secondary market for commercial real estate bonds, analysts say liquidity could return to the commercial sector much sooner than anticipated. Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida Seized and Sold Only one bank was shut down by regulators Friday - Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers, Florida. The single failure pushes the total number of institutional closures in 2009 to 124, but was a rare departure from the typical multiple bank collapses that have characterized most weekends since the start of the year. Former Owner of Real Estate Investment Company Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud On Thursday in a United States District Court, Kevin M. O'Connell of Albany, New York, pled guilty to felony charges of laundering of monetary instruments in connection with his role in a mortgage fraud scheme which defrauded financial institutions and mortgage lenders of over $5.3 million in loans from July 2003 to December 2007. 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. Existing-Home Sales Record Another Big Gain as Inventories Shrink Driven largely by the federal government's first-time homebuyer tax credit, existing-home sales showed another big gain in October, while inventories continued to decline, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Monday. Sales of previously owned homes have trended steadily upward for seven months now. According to NAR's market data, resales of single-family residences, townhomes, condos, and co-op properties surged 10.1 percent to an annual rate of 6.10 million units in October, compared to a 5.54 million unit sales pace in September. NAR says sales activity is the highest it's been since February 2007. Bank of America Readies $460 Million CMBS for Sale Last week marked the first sale of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) in more than a year and already it seems to have sparked renewed interest in the previously stagnant secondary market for commercial real estate. Bank of America is pulling together the market's second new CMBS deal - a $460 million issuance backed by office and industrial properties in Florida. With this recent movement coming to what was previously a firmly gridlocked secondary market for commercial real estate bonds, analysts say liquidity could return to the commercial sector much sooner than anticipated. Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida Seized and Sold Only one bank was shut down by regulators Friday - Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers, Florida. The single failure pushes the total number of institutional closures in 2009 to 124, but was a rare departure from the typical multiple bank collapses that have characterized most weekends since the start of the year. Former Owner of Real Estate Investment Company Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud On Thursday in a United States District Court, Kevin M. O'Connell of Albany, New York, pled guilty to felony charges of laundering of monetary instruments in connection with his role in a mortgage fraud scheme which defrauded financial institutions and mortgage lenders of over $5.3 million in loans from July 2003 to December 2007. 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 near unchanged, but much improved from the worst levels of the morning.
In the news, Existing Home Sales were reported far higher than expectations, and the inventory of unsold homes dropped to a 7-month supply, which is the lowest in 2 1/2 years. These are encouraging signs for the housing market.
I recommend floating for now, but be prepared to lock if the record Treasury Auction this afternoon impacts the Bond market. I will continue to monitor the situation and keep you posted.

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

Market Comment

Mortgage Bonds are near unchanged, but much improved from the worst levels of the morning.
In the news, Existing Home Sales were reported far higher than expectations, and the inventory of unsold homes dropped to a 7-month supply, which is the lowest in 2 1/2 years. These are encouraging signs for the housing market.
I recommend floating for now, but be prepared to lock if the record Treasury Auction this afternoon impacts the Bond market. I will continue to monitor the situation and keep you posted.

Leonard Winslow, Dominion Trust Mortgage
434-760-2580 (direct)
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. Congressman Calls for Bailout Money to Go to Unemployed Homeowners Rep. Barney Frank is once again pushing a mortgage relief program to assist the growing number of homeowners who find themselves without a job - now the primary driver behind mortgage defaults. Under his proposal, some of the $12 billion that the Treasury has gotten back from banks for TARP bailouts would be used to issue low-interest emergency loans to unemployed homeowners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments. While most lawmakers are calling for TARP to expire at year-end, Frank says he would support an extension if it included provisions for jobless homeowners. Home Price Declines Slowing: First American CoreLogic Home prices have plummeted across the country since the onset of the housing crisis, but according to First American CoreLogic, the rate at which property values are dropping has slowed and returned to what could be called a normal seasonal pattern. The company says national home prices, including distressed sales, declined by 9.8 percent in September compared to a year ago. Looking forward, First American CoreLogic's forecast calls for housing prices to bottom for most markets by March 2010 and then turn positive. Treasury to Auction off TARP Warrants The U.S. Department of the Treasury is putting stock warrants it received for investments made in several large banks on the auction block. Treasury obtained warrants through the capital injections it provided to financial institutions nearly a year ago under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). While the Department has worked directly with other banks to negotiate buy-back prices for their warrants, it was unable to reach an agreement over the value of the warrants from J.P. Morgan, Capital One, and TCF Financial. The Treasury's warrant positions in these three institutions will be sold at public auctions over the next month. Center for Responsible Lending Puts 2009 Foreclosures at 2.9 Million According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), a record number of loans are delinquent, and 1 in 22 families in the United States is in the process of losing their home. Based on these figures, the Center for Responsible Lending says the industry is on track for 2.9 million foreclosure starts in this year alone. 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. Congressman Calls for Bailout Money to Go to Unemployed Homeowners Rep. Barney Frank is once again pushing a mortgage relief program to assist the growing number of homeowners who find themselves without a job - now the primary driver behind mortgage defaults. Under his proposal, some of the $12 billion that the Treasury has gotten back from banks for TARP bailouts would be used to issue low-interest emergency loans to unemployed homeowners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments. While most lawmakers are calling for TARP to expire at year-end, Frank says he would support an extension if it included provisions for jobless homeowners. Home Price Declines Slowing: First American CoreLogic Home prices have plummeted across the country since the onset of the housing crisis, but according to First American CoreLogic, the rate at which property values are dropping has slowed and returned to what could be called a normal seasonal pattern. The company says national home prices, including distressed sales, declined by 9.8 percent in September compared to a year ago. Looking forward, First American CoreLogic's forecast calls for housing prices to bottom for most markets by March 2010 and then turn positive. Treasury to Auction off TARP Warrants The U.S. Department of the Treasury is putting stock warrants it received for investments made in several large banks on the auction block. Treasury obtained warrants through the capital injections it provided to financial institutions nearly a year ago under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). While the Department has worked directly with other banks to negotiate buy-back prices for their warrants, it was unable to reach an agreement over the value of the warrants from J.P. Morgan, Capital One, and TCF Financial. The Treasury's warrant positions in these three institutions will be sold at public auctions over the next month. Center for Responsible Lending Puts 2009 Foreclosures at 2.9 Million According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), a record number of loans are delinquent, and 1 in 22 families in the United States is in the process of losing their home. Based on these figures, the Center for Responsible Lending says the industry is on track for 2.9 million foreclosure starts in this year alone. 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