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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 85 IN THE NEWS New Trade Group Launches for REO Professionals in Midwest A new REO group has launched in the Midwest, giving professionals in the region another voice in the industry. Dubbed the Midwest REO Association (MRA), the trade organization hopes to serve as a major resource for REO profes- sionals in the country's heartland, says Bryan Lysikowski, CEO of Ohio-based ZVN Properties and cofounder of the group. "e MRA's mission is to further educate the public, our clients, and each other through networking, conferences, and other online and live meetings, and to serve as a clearinghouse of important information about this industry," Lysikowski said. John Dyer, president of Nova Title Agency and also a cofounder of the new group, added that as lenders, servicers, and investors become more focused on regional rather than national issues, associations like MRA are increasingly important. "REO professionals who become mem- bers of the MRA will be able to better share information and referrals with peers with whom they are not necessarily in competition but [who] are active in this specific region—a region that still has a significant number of delinquent mortgages and distressed proper- ties," Dyer said. "Some of the national REO trade associa- tions have lost steam and influence in recent years, mainly because they are not entirely in tune with regional issues, and it is difficult to draw members to events that are clear across the country," Dyer continued. "e MRA will rectify that situation in the Midwest region of America." Having launched the organization just in time to debut at the 2014 Five Star Confer- ence in Dallas, Texas, Dyer and Lysikowski said they hope to attract interested lenders, servicers, investors, vendors, and Realtors in the default servicing field. "We expect to recruit strong, proven par- ticipants from within the mortgage default servicing industry who share our passion for helping the nation return to a vibrant, healthy economy that is driven by a strong housing market," Lysikowski said. Employment Gains Spur Housing Growth in Pittsburgh, Cleveland As the housing market continues to mend, analysts find the young-adult sector of the market lagging. Some feel a lack of young first-time buyers is the main component holding housing back. However, this may not be the case everywhere. A burgeoning young, knowledge-based workforce is contributing to housing and overall economic growth in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, according to the latest Home Value Forecast from Pro Teck Valuation Services. Pittsburgh and Cleveland rank third and eighth on a list of metros with the highest percentage of employed individuals ages 25 to 34 with graduate or professional degrees, ac- cording to a recent report from Cleveland State University's Center for Population Dynamics. ese two cities are following in the foot- steps of Boston, which notably transformed from a labor-based to a knowledge-based economy in the 1980s, according to the center. "What metro is the 'next Boston'? Pittsburgh is a likely candidate," the center stated in its report. is transformation to a knowledge-based labor force, specifically fo- cused on technology, has allowed Pittsburgh to bypass the worst of the housing crash, according to Pro Teck. Cleveland is a few steps behind in its transformation, but it is experiencing growth in knowledge-based jobs. "[I]f you want to act, you go to Hollywood. If you want to practice cardiac care or make medical devices you come to Cleveland," the Center for Popu- lation Dynamics researchers stated. Currently, Cleveland homes remain 30 percent below their pre-crisis highs, although "we are seeing Cleveland home prices on the rise as their relatively new knowledge-based economy takes hold," said Tom O'Grady, CEO of Pro Teck Valuation Services. "With today's youth looking for work/life balance while struggling to pay off student debt and other obligations, it's easy to see why Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and other Rust Belt cities could see a renaissance in the years to come," O'Grady said. In addition to its focus on the transform- ing cities of Pittsburgh and Cleveland, Pro Teck ranked the housing market's top 200 core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) based on home sales, home listings, prices, inventory, days on market, sold-to-list price ratio, and foreclosures and REOs. e top 10 markets in August span the country with representation from the West, Northwest, and Southwest. e top five mar- kets include Portland-Vancouver, Oregon- Washington; Indianapolis-Carmel-Ander- son, Indiana; San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas; Seattle-Bellevue, Washington; and Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska. "All the top metros have homes selling in less than 70 days and a low ratio of foreclo- sure sales," O'Grady said. In contrast, the bottom 10 markets have much larger inventories—between 6 and 21 months' supplies—and a higher percentage of foreclosure sales, according to O'Grady. At the bottom of the list are Jacksonville, North Carolina; Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Ha- zleton, Pennsylvania; Youngstown-Warren- Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania; Lakeland- Winter Haven, Florida; and Gary, Indiana. South Dakota RANK: 42 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate AUGUST 2014 0.91% 0.69% 3.6 YEAR AGO 0.80% 0.99% 3.8 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 14.6% -29.9% -0.2 Top County MCCOOK COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate AUGUST 2014 1.00% 3.43% YEAR AGO 2.10% 4.34% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -52.4% -20.8% Top Core-Based Statistical Area RAPID CITY, SD 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate AUGUST 2014 0.95% 0.97% YEAR AGO 1.09% 1.14% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -13.1% -15.2% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the August 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary August 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Ohio had the eighth highest foreclosure rate in the nation for Q3 2014 with one foreclosure filing for every 306 housing units, according to RealtyTrac. KNOW THIS

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