Secondary Market

Existing homes sale rose to an annual rate 4.47 million in July, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the sale pace to be 4.51 million. Economists had expected the sale pace to be 4.51 million. The median price of an existing home though fell in July for the first time since January. The median price of an existing home fell $1,500, 0.8 percent, from June to $187,300. The median price was up year-over-year for the fifth straight month in July.

While some signs suggest the housing recovery may finally be under way, others signal that banks will likely continue to see repurchase claims from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Analysts with Fitch Ratings found in a report on Monday that repurchase risk remains high for several financial institutions, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Ally Financial. According to Fitch, repurchase risk climbed to 41 percent for Bank of America. Roughly 60 percent of the claims stemmed from private-label requests.

July├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós positive economic news did little to change Fannie Mae├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós forecast for 2012, the GSE revealed Tuesday. Fannie Mae├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Economic & Strategic Research Group issued its latest economic outlook, maintaining its expectations for modest growth in 2012. This news comes in spite of reports of strengthening retail sales and job growth in July. Fannie Mae├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Economic & Strategic Research Group issued its latest economic outlook, maintaining its expectations for modest growth in 2012.

FICO and Savvis are teaming up to provide a new could-based technology service for lenders. The companies have joined forces to launch FICO Debt Manager, a platform that will give users game-changing adaptive control capabilities for collection and recovery processes related to mortgages, secured and unsecured loans, and many different types of accounts.

Massachusetts-based radius financial group inc. has been honored with a national accolade. Inc. Magazine named the mortgage bank among the country's fastest growing companies for the fourth consecutive year, ranking radius at 1,222 on the publication's annual roster of 5,000 thriving organizations to watch.

Want to live like a kingpin? You're in luck, because according to Zillow, the Florida estate once belonging to Al Capone is on the market for $9.95 million. The legendary gangster moved into the stunning and storied house on Miami Beach's Palm Island in 1928, and he called the seaside property home before and after his imprisonment for tax evasion, living in the luxurious pad until his death in 1947.

Expanding its wholesale unit, First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. (FGMC) has appointed a new national wholesale sales manager. The company recently announced that Industry veteran Patricia Trimble has been hired to fill the leadership position.

In California, high-end homebuyers have the chance to own a piece of architectural history. According to Curbed, a Usonian home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright has hit the San Anselmo market for $2.5 million.

Ellie Mae has released the results from its commissioned study on community banks, and the findings reveal that smaller financial institutions fear the effect that new housing finance regulations could have on their mortgage businesses. The survey, which was conducted by T. Aloise & Company, showed that 51 percent of community bank executives listed changing compliance standards as their most significant challenge.

On Friday, after years of bills from lawmakers to reform Fannie and Freddie, the Treasury Department unveiled a plan to finally ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£wind down├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø the mortgage giants. According to a release, the Treasury Department will end a past ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£circular├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø arrangement with Fannie and Freddie that allowed the companies to repay the agency with the very funds it received in the first place. The new agreement requires that Fannie and Freddie divert any new quarterly profits back to Treasury in order to repay taxpayers for their losses.