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26 Watt Blames Homeowner Skepticism for HARP Slowdown In a town hall-style meeting in Chicago early last month, Mel Watt, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), blamed fear of being taken in by a scam for eligible homeowner's reluctance to take advantage of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). "We are down to the people who don't believe this is a cred- ible program," Watt said in a meeting with community groups and housing counseling agencies at a Chicago Public Li- brary branch. "We've got approximately $72 million that we'd like to give away in this metropolitan area. People won't come in and say I want that money." According to an FHFA report, the number of homeowners refinancing monthly through HARP has dropped nationally, to just under 20,000 loans in April 2014, down year-over-year from almost 107,000 in April 2013. HUD contends that on average, homeowners who refinance through HARP are saving $191 per month by lowering their interest rates. HARP al- lows homeowners to refinance regardless of if they owe more on the home than it is actually worth. e Chicago event was highly anticipated by the industry due to specu- lation that Watt would announce an extension for the program, which is currently set to expire in December 2015. e speculation proved fruitless however, as no such announcement took place. Instead Watt an- nounced that Chicago was going to be the second city admitted into the federal govern- ment's pilot Neighbor- hood Stabilization Initiative intended to assist homeowners who are behind on their mortgages, help neighborhoods recover, and reduce the inventory of REO properties held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Detroit, the first city in the program, was admitted in May. HUD estimates that hundreds of thousands of citizens nationwide, including 36,000 in the City of Chicago alone, are eligible to benefit from HARP but have yet to step forward. Officials have noted that as interest rates rise, the incentive to participate fades. With more promotional events scheduled for the coming months in cities around the nation, the pro- gram hopes to get as many eligible homeowners as possible to refinance before an interest rate increase shrinks the eligibility pool. MOVERS & SHAKERS KEEP UP WITH WHO'S DOING WHAT AND WHO WENT WHERE Got something to share with us? Send it to Editor@DSNews.com. Survey: Consumers Expect Home Prices to Increase e Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its latest Survey of Consumer Expectations for June. e survey found that consumers expect home prices to accelerate in every region except one—the South—where a slight slowdown is expected. Overall, consumers expected home prices to increase in May by 4 percent, up slightly from April's reading of 3.77 percent. e West saw the largest month-over-month jump in regional home price expectations, up to 5.53 percent in May from April's reading of 5.02 percent. e Midwest and North- east saw small increases as well, from 3.05 percent to 3.13 percent in the Midwest and 3.02 percent to 3.1 percent in the Northeast. Home price expectations for the South declined from April's reading of 4 percent to 3.93 percent in May. Respondents also said that the mean probability of finding a job in the next three months if they were to lose their jobs today was 48.7 percent, up slightly from April's reading of 46.57 percent. e New York Fed's survey also reported on debt delinquency. e probability of respondents who said they would not be able to make minimum debt payments over the next three months was roughly 14 percent, down slightly from April's reading. Respondents to the survey felt that the one-year, ahead expected inflation rate would be 3.17 percent, down slightly from April's reading of 3.3 percent. Finally, 31.67 percent of those surveyed believe credit availability would be "somewhat harder" in the coming year, with 8.39 percent who believe that gaining credit would be "much harder." Roughly 41 percent of survey respondents said credit availability would be "equally easy/hard." Approximate- ly 19 percent think credit will be "somewhat easier" to "much easier" to get in the coming year. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 LRES Announces New VP of Asset Management LRES announced that Ann Song has been named VP of REO asset management. In her new role, Song will be responsible for managing the company's REO portfolio of up to 2,000 assets and growing the number of REO specialists in the company's Orange County and Phoenix locations. Rockspring Capital Adds Senior Associate, Legal Counsel Real estate investment firm Rockspring Capital announced the addition of John Thomas Oldham to its team as senior associate and corporate counsel. At the company, Oldham will be responsible for client development, sourcing capital, and strategic implementation and execution of fundraising operations. He will also provide in-house legal counsel. "We are down to the people who don't believe this is a credible program," Watt said in a meeting with community groups and housing counseling agencies at a Chicago Public Library branch. "We've got approximately $72 million that we'd like to give away in this metropolitan area. People won't come in and say I want that money."

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