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37 » VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM REO CASH SALES SHARE HOVERS NEAR 60 PERCENT e cash sales share for REO properties was little changed from January to February, falling only slightly from 60 percent to 59.8 percent, according to CoreLogic's February 2015 cash sales report, released in May. e REO cash sales share percentage of 59.8 for February still has not completely recovered from what was termed a seasonal decline from November to December, when it fell from 61.1 percent to 58.4 percent, though it did move back up to 60 percent for January. As has historically been the case, REO sales had the largest cash sales share in February, followed by resales (37.6 percent), short sales (34.3 percent), and new home sales (15.8 percent). ough the cash sales share for REO remained near 60 percent, the percentage of total home sales that were REO sales fell slightly from January to February from 9.9 percent to 9.7 percent. In January 2011 at the height of the foreclosure wave, when cash sales reached their peak, REO sales made up 23.9 percent of all home sales. Resales, which comprise about 80 percent of cash sales, have the most weight on the overall share of cash sales. In all, cash sales accounted for 37.9 percent of all home sales this February, down from 40.6 percent the previous February; the peak occurred in January 2011 when cash transactions comprised about 46.5 percent of all home sales. February 2015 was the 26th consecutive month (since January 2013) for year-over-year declines in cash sales as a percentage of total home sales. If the decline continues at its current rate, the share of cash sales as a percentage of all home sales should fall below 25 percent by mid-2018, according to CoreLogic. FHFA DIRECTOR WATT OUTLINES POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS FOR FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANKS At this year's Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) directors' conference, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Melvin L. Watt delivered a speech regarding the past year of positive developments that occurred in these 12 banks. "FHFA understands the importance of developing new ways for the FHLBanks to support the housing finance needs of members," Watt said. "FHFA has now approved several mortgage programs that provide participating members alternative means to sell mortgage loans, thereby transferring risk and freeing up capital that members can use to expand credit availability in local communities." In his speech, Watt highlighted that the FHLBanks are an important part of home financing, in that they provide a source of funding and access to the secondary mortgage market and other services to member institutions, especially smaller institutions that have little access these services. According to the data presented at the conference, every FHLBank had a positive net income for the past 13 quarters, and they also earned $2.3 billion in 2014 and $2.5 billion in 2013, collectively. e top 10 borrowers led the increase of $73 billion in 2014 of advance volume, while the other members revealed signs of increasing advance demand. By the end of 2014, regulatory capital was $49.5 billion, or 5.4 percent of total system assets, consisting of $13.2 billion in retained earnings, $33.7 billion in capital stock, and $2.6 billion in mandatorily redeemable capital stock. e Affordable Housing Program also helped FHLBanks award $238.5 million worth of grants that would provide assistance to nearly 25,000 single- family and multifamily units. e FHLBanks were set up by Congress to aid in the home financing process, and the FHFA has a statutory responsibility to ensure that this purpose is being met within the constructs of the FHLBank Act. "Since becoming the director of FHFA, I have continued to gain an even greater understanding and appreciation for what you [FHLBanks] do," Watt said. "I look forward to working with you [directors] in our joint effort to ensure that the FHLBanks continue their operations in a manner that is both safe and sound and consistent with their mission."

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