Secondary Market

As the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) makes declarations of intentions of "establishing a path for shifting mortgage credit risk from the Enterprises (and, thereby, taxpayers) to private investors," one company in its infancy plans to take advantage of this opening for private mortgage insurers.

Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC and Walter Investment Management Corp. outbid Nationstar Mortgage Holdings and received preliminary approval for the purchase of Residential Capital's mortgage servicing and origination assets. Ocwen's $3 billion was the highest bid for the assets, which went to auction Tuesday.

August home prices across the United States were up an average 4.6 percent since the start of the year, according to data from Lender Processing Services' (LPS) Applied Analytics division. LPS' Home Price Index, which reflects transacted sales rather than recorded sales, revealed that the average U.S. home price increased to $205,000 in August, up 0.2 percent from July. The average home price in August 2011 was $199,000, or 2.6 percent less than this year's reading. The most recent price increase brings the HPI up 4.6 percent from January 2012.

Led by increases in personal consumption, government spending, and residential investment, the US economy grew 2.0 percent in the third quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday, faster than economists expected and a strong rebound from the 1.3 percent growth rate in the second quarter. While not an absolutely strong performance, the improvement over the second quarter bolsters arguments that current economic policies are working. Growth is below the longer-term 2.5 percent average, though, indicating a still-weak economy.

The Department of Justice sued Bank of America for over $1 billion for alleged mortgage fraud related to the sale of loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In a US Housing Market Update released by the firm, analyst and property economist Paul Diggle notes that while "a substantial overhang of properties still in the shadow inventory" will keep distressed sellers in the market, the peak in distressed supply appears to be well behind us, giving homebuilders more room to grow with less competition from discounted homes. In addition, short sales--typically sold at a smaller discount--have been gaining traction as foreclosure sales drop, creating "less of a depressing influence on the new-build market."

Patton Boggs is welcoming back a former partner, announcing that Todd R. Harrison has rejoined the firm's litigation and dispute resolution practice group. Harrison is headed back to Patton Boggs after departing in 2011 to serve as chief counsel for oversight and investigations on the energy and commerce committee for the U.S. House of Representatives.

An executive from Churchill Mortgage recently received recognition from The Nashville Business Journal. Matthew C. Clarke, Churchill's CFO and COO, was a finalist in this year's CFO Awards, which recognize leading CFOs from corporations in Middle Tennessee.

Mortgage rate movement last week was "so slight it was almost nonexistent," according to data from Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose ever so slightly in September, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday, tempering the much-heralded housing sector revival. The Index inched up to 99.5, an improvement of 0.3 percentage points over August's 99.2. Economists had expected the index to jump 2.5 percent to 101.7.