Finance

Mortgage application activity dropped 5.6% in the week ending April 22 despite a decline in mortgage rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). However, the number was not adjusted for the Good Friday holiday.

When global regulators last year announced final international capital and liquidity standards, bankers for the first time in months breathed a sigh of relief, appearing even to welcome the agreement.

Blackstone Group obtained an $800 million loan from JPMorgan Chase to refinance debt backed by 13 hotels, according to a Bloomberg report. The debt is expected to be restructured as a CMBS, the report said.

A study sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) showed that despite evidence that some home pre-purchase education and foreclosure prevention programs are effective, inconsistent proof of the effect of counseling indicates the industry remains clueless about what works and what does not work.

The conversion of owner-occupied single-family homes into renter-occupied homes has played in important role in stabilizing housing markets that has been wracked by foreclosures, according to a report on rental housing released Tuesday morning.

House prices fell 1.1% in February following a 1.1% decline in January, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city house price index.

Loss severities dropped across all the indices by 1.0, 1.7, 4.9, and 3.2 points to 82.4%, 83.4%, 87.5%, and 90.5% for the 06-1 through 07-2 indices, respectively, as reported by Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts.

Velocity Commercial Capital (VCC) is in the market Velocity Commercial Capital Loan Trust 2011-1. The single-tranched, $62.2 million transaction, which is managed by UBS, is a collateralized by small balance commercial loans sponsored by VCC.

An ABS backed by diversified payment rights (DPRs), through Banco Santander Brazil, is currently making the rounds on the private placement market.

In 2010, commercial and multifamily mortgage origination volumes increased to $118.8 billion, up 44% compared to 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). And first liens accounted for 92% of the total dollar volume closed.

Deutsche Bank Securities hired Douglas Runte as a managing director and head of aviation debt research within its markets division.

Santander Consumer USA is in the market with Santander Drive Auto Receivables Trust 2011-1(SDART 2011-1). The eight-tranche offering, which is over $800 million, is backed by auto receivables.

Lenore Albert, a plaintiff's lawyer in Huntington Beach, Calif., said the consent orders federal regulators recently issued against the largest mortgage servicers gave her "another tool" to fight foreclosures.

Preliminary figures released today by Jones Lang LaSalle's research on global direct commercial real estate (CRE) investment volumes showed that these investments continue to appeal to a broad range of investors.

Avis Budget Car Rental is marketing ABS backed by rental fleet vehicles totaling $600 million.

Home prices fell 1.6% in February after a 1% dip in January as the GSE regulator's house price index hit yet another new low since values reached their peak in April 2007.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston (FHLB of Boston) this week filed a complaint seeking to rescind the purchase of nearly $6 billion of MBS whose collateral is underpinned by loans to homeowners with sketchy credit.

The $5.2 million loan on the U.S. Geological Survey regional headquarters that was securitized in JPMCC 2010-C2 is 30-days delinquent, according to a report from Royal Bank of Scotland.

FICO launched an analytic advance that substantially improves lenders’ ability to identify borrowers at risk of strategic default on mortgages.

Standard & Poor's late Wednesday revised its outlook on the unsecured debt issuances of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System to "negative" from "stable" while maintaining their 'AAA' credit rating.