The UFA Default Risk Index for the fourth quarter of 2011 edged lower to 131 from last quarter’s revised 133, which suggests that residential mortgage default and prepayment risks are continuing their return to normalcy. According to the latest UFA Mortgage Report by University Financial Associates of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the stage is set for a recovery in the housing market. Under current economic conditions, investors and lenders should expect defaults on loans currently being originated to be only 31 percent higher than the average of loans originated in the 1990s, due solely to the local and national economic environment.

Unemployment and other factors have caused many homeowners to involuntarily default on their mortgages. At the same time, falling home prices, the possibility of being underwater for many years and advice from certain influencers, or “mavens,” may have encouraged others

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently released the November edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard—a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Included in this month’s report are detailed assessments for the 10 largest mortgage servicers participating in the Making Home Affordable Program with results from the third quarter of 2011. In addition to providing greater transparency about servicer performance in the program, the servicer assessments—first introduced in June 2011 and published quarterly—are intended to set a new industry benchmark for disclosure around servicer efforts to assist struggling homeowners, while prompting them to correct identified deficiencies.

With all the newspaper articles, television reports and Internet stories discussing how much real estate values have declined over the past several years, buyers in today’s market are unquestionably looking for a great deal. And with the surge in distressed properties, buyers are often looking

In late-breaking news Tuesday Brookfield Residential Property Services, a Brookfield Asset Management Inc. affiliate, announced that it has purchased Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services (PRERS), a recognized leader in employee relocation and real estate franchising from Prudential Financial, Inc. Prudential Relocation Services operates as Pricoa Relocation in Asia and Europe.

Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates changing little and remaining near their historic lows while adjustable-rate mortgages averaged new record lows.

Pending home sales rose strongly in October and remain above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, surged 10.4 percent to 93.3 in October

Consumer confidence improved in November, rising 15 points and reaching its highest level since July. With consumers’ view of business conditions perking up, and their opinion on job conditions brightening, positivity seeps into what has been a fairly negative past few months. The Index now stands at 56.0, up from 40.9 in October. The Present Situation Index increased to 38.3 from 27.1. The Expectations Index rose to 67.8 from 50.0. The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was November 15th.

I love answering questions from agents, and they tend to take on a different tone in the fall months. People become more apt to ask big-picture questions because they’re thinking about a fresh start in the New Year. “What can I do to be more successful?” is a question I hear a lot.

Today’s real estate agent faces daunting challenges. It’s more important than ever that real estate agents deliver value to consumers who have a negative view of real estate due to the real estate bust and are also empowered with a range of real estate information available on the World Wide Web.

The marketing tools available to REALTORS® have changed considerably since the early days of door-knocking, open houses, sending out flyers, even delivering pumpkins in October. We’re now in the era of Web 2.0 and beyond, with Internet and social marketing tools, which are more cost-and-time-effective than anything that we’ve ever tried before. As long as you’re using them in the right way, and efficiently, there are many advantages to blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other websites for connecting with your consumers.

This week’s headlines from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® include: zipLogix celebrating 20 years of innovation; free direct marketing tools from Lowe’s; and the ability to customize any of 11 brochures.

It's been said that salespeople don't plan to fail, they simply fail to plan. How much time do you currently spend preparing for your client appointments? If you're honest with yourself, the answer is probably not enough. In my opinion, the single most common characteristic shared among all successful salespeople is the value they place on pre-appointment preparation, research, and planning. I believe that when W. D. Boyce founded the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 he selected "Be Prepared" as the organization's motto, because he understood that preparation was the key to unlock the door of opportunity.

In need of a new television stand, I recently made a sojourn to a popular discount store for an inexpensive, viable piece that would do the job. After making the purchase ($49.95) and lugging the flat, 3 ft. x 2 ft. box back to the house, assembly was the next task. Once all the parts were removed from the box and laid out on the floor, it was easy to examine exactly what the product was made from: particle board (not even very good particle board at that), a black plastic veneer, and formed plastic wheels. During assembly, it was not even possible to

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Ad Tech, the number one event for digital marketing here in New York City. Not only did I have full access to the event, but I was one of the few that got to sit in on the press briefing; 10 companies ...