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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is ready to roll out an overhaul of the intricate rules and systems that govern America’s troubled financial institutions, proposing the most ambitious revision since the Great Depression. Continue

At Bank of America, the nation’s largest mortgage servicer, more than 60 percent of approved short sales do not close, which is why the bank wants to streamline the process, said BofA Senior Vice President David Sunlin by telephone Thursday.

Sunlin, who manages short sales for the bank, said the bank’s first goal still is to negotiate a mortgage modification that will let a borrower keep his home. But he said during those negotiations the bank can simultaneously obtain the documentation needed to qualify the borrower for a short sale if the modification doesn’t work.

In the past, Sunlin said, the bank did not begin the lengthy process of qualifying a borrower for a short sale until it had received a purchase offer.

To expedite short sales, Bank of America has enlarged and updated staff training and set up a phone line dedicated to short sales that borrowers and their agents can use.

Also, Sunlin said, in 60 to 90 days the bank will roll out a Web program it will use to find and track the short sales of houses with mortgages that it services. He said the Web portal also will accept qualifying documentation from clients wishing to do short sales.

Sunlin said it typically takes 45 to 60 days for the bank to tell a client if a short sale offer can be accepted, and up to 90 days if an investor must approve it. The goal, he said, is to shorten the wait to a week.

“By doing this, we should see more private sales instead of more sales of bank-owned (houses),” he said. Read Full Article

High-end properties are increasingly coming under the sort of pressure once reserved for moderate homes. In fact, as slowing price declines fuel hope that the real estate bottom is near, other signs suggest the worst is on its way for the region’s upscale market. Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Housing construction plunged to a record low in April as a steep drop in apartment building offset a rebound in single-family construction. Permits for new projects also hit a new low.

Housing construction, permits hit record lows | EUREKA REALTY NETWORK.

Realtors ramp up call for standards

Patience is increasingly wearing thin across the country as real estate agents become more vocal over the agonizing process. They argue that clearing the nation’s huge inventory of distressed properties is paramount to resuscitate an ailing housing market and sputtering U.S. economy. Read Full Article

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Home prices are forecast to fall more than 30% in some communities in ‘the most severe housing recession’ since 1945.

On a national level, the housing market recession will continue through early 2009, said the report, co-authored by Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, and Celia Chen, director of housing economics. Read Full Article

A Texas bank is about done demolishing 16 new and partially built houses acquired in Southern California through foreclosure, figuring it was better to knock them down than to try selling them in the depressed housing market.

No Sale: Bank Wrecks New Houses - WSJ.com.