HOUSING: Wachovia offers cash to spur homeowners into ’short sales’ – LENDER QUIETLY GIVING $2,500 OR MORE IN INCENTIVES TO AVOID FORECLOSURE – By ERIC WOLFF – Wachovia Corp. is offering its borrowers money for selling their houses short, rather than going into foreclosure.  Homeowners with Wachovia mortgages who are upside down on their property can get 1 percent of the price of their short sale, with a minimum of $2,500. The incentives only kick in once the deal closes. – North County Times

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FHA Section:

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FHA Commissioner On Audit  – video of Dave Stevens on CNBC 

FHA boss: FHA is not the new subprime – By ALEX VEIGA – … But Stevens sought to dampen those concerns, noting that despite the most severe housing recession in decades, the agency has $31 billion in capital — $3.5 billion more than it had a year ago.
FHA is “the only participant in home financing services in the U.S. economy that hasn’t needed a bailout, hasn’t needed (funds from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program), hasn’t needed special assistance and is still completely self-sustaining,” Stevens said.  “Without FHA there would be no (housing) market, and this economy’s recovery would be significantly slower,” he said. … – AP Google

The FHA’s nose dive – Another housing agency takes taxpayers for a dangerous ride. – … During the bubble, subprime firms “served” anyone with a remotely plausible ability to borrow, and the FHA’s market share waned. The FHA tried to compete by accepting down payments supplied by sellers to borrowers via nonprofit organizations. These were, in effect, loans of very poor quality that required no down payment, and they have been defaulting in bunches. The FHA says that, without these clunkers in its portfolio, the agency could meet the statutory capital requirements today. … – Washington Post

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Reverse Mortgages … Ginnie Mae Buyout Requirements Put Pressure on Servicers – As the reverse mortgage industry increases its reliance on Ginnie Mae’s HMBS program, Broker Universe describes how buyout requirements could take a toll on servicers once HECM-securitized loans come to maturity in a few years. – Reverse Mortgage Daily

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FDIC Says Mortgages Retain Risk-Weight After HAMP – By JON PRIOR  – The federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies issued a final rule that mortgage loans modified under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) retain the risk weight appropriate to the loan before modification.  – HousingWire

DBRS Sees Fannie’s D4L Coming to Non-Conforming Market – By DIANA GOLOBAY – Despite research from Barclays Capital that indicates the Deed-for-Lease Program (D4L) launched earlier in November by mortgage giant Fannie Mae will “see limited use,” as it targets the same debt-to-income (DTI) ratio as a HAMP modification, independent rating agency DBRS expects a different outcome.  DBRS said in market commentary the D4L plan — an effort to minimize family displacement, neighborhood blight and house price decline — is likely to gain enough support to be applied to the non-conforming mortgage market. – HousingWire

San Diego House Prices Rise 14% Since March: Local Survey – by AUSTIN KILGORE -  Home sales and prices in San Diego increased from September to October, according to a joint report by local real estate firms The Berkland Group and Fidelity Pacific Real Estate. – HousingWire

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Survey shows spike in first-time homebuyers – Purchases by single women also rise in the past year, survey shows – AP MSNBC

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could be big problem – Tenants’ Rights Act Adds Landlord Liabilities - BY DOUG. E. LICKER – MortgageOrb  

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Mortgage delinquencies hit another record in 3Q -  By EILEEN AJ CONNELLY (AP)  – … For the three months ended Sept. 30, 6.25 percent of U.S. mortgage loans were 60 or more days past due, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion. That’s up 58 percent from 3.96 percent a year ago. … – Google

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Renting From Fannie – Alexandra Zendrian – The firm is letting foreclosed upon families rent their homes. Is this delaying the inevitable or helping housing? – Forbes

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new program – Philadelphia Gives Homeowners a Way to Stay Put  – By PETER S. GOODMAN – But in Philadelphia, under a program begun last year to try to keep people in their homes, … Under the rules adopted by Philadelphia’s primary civil court, no owner-occupied house may be foreclosed on and sold by the sheriff’s office before a “conciliation conference,” a face-to-face meeting between the homeowner and the lender aimed at striking a workable compromise. … Philadelphia’s program has emerged as a model that has enabled hundreds of troubled borrowers to retain their homes. Other cities, from Pittsburgh to Chicago to Louisville, have examined the program and adopted similar efforts. … – NY Times