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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 7 A look at facts you didn't know you couldn't live without. Compiled by the DS News Staff TAKE A LOOK INSIDE THE NUMBERS D ATA B I T S Distressed home sales, which include foreclosures and short sales, dropped in March down to 8 percent from 10 percent both over-the-month and over-the-year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed a combined 15,192 foreclosure prevention actions in January 2016, bringing the total to more than 3.6 million since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. GAO: KEEP AN EYE ON NONBANK SERVICERS INSIDE THE JOURNAL // MOVERS & SHAKERS // ON THE WEB // THE APP SPECTRUM Source: Trulia (March 2016) Source: Black Knight Financial Services (February 2016) STATES WITH THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF NON-CURRENT INVENTORY 1 Mississippi 11.4% 2 Louisiana 9.6% 3 New Jersey 9.2% 4 New York 8.4% 5 Alabama 8.2% 6 Rhode Island 8.0% 7 Maine 8.0% 8 West Virginia 7.8% 9 Delaware 7.4% 10 Pennsylvania 7.2% State Percentage Ranking U.S. METROS WITH THE LARGEST DECREASE IN STARTER HOMES SINCE 2012 1 Salt Lake City, Utah 87.9% 2 San Antonio, Texas 86.2% 3 Austin, Texas 82.9% 4 San Diego, California 80.4% 5 Nashville, Tennessee 79.5% 6 Orange County, California 79.4% 7 Denver, Colorado 77.0% 8 Houston, Texas 74.0% 9 San Francisco, California 73.9% 10 Portland, Oregon 71.0% Ranking Metro Percentage PAGE 38 Chief Economist, Genworth Mortgage Insurance ASK THE ECONOMIST WITH TIAN LIU e Government Accountability Of- fice (GAO) said that nonbank mortgage servicers need more oversight from both the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as the share of mortgages serviced by nonbanks has nearly quadrupled since 2012, according to a report released by the GAO. Nonbank servicers are now servicing almost a quarter of the nation's $9.9 billion in outstanding residential mortgage loans (about 24.2 percent) as of June 2015, having increased from 6.8 percent in 2012. But the GAO pointed out that while the nonbank servicers' portfolios have sky- rocketed in the last few years, their internal controls and operating systems have gener- ally not advanced at the same rate—an issue the CFPB and others have also pointed out. e reason for the tremendous growth of nonbank servicers' portfolios is largely the result of banks exiting the mortgage space following the financial crisis due to an ever-increasing number of delinquent loans, among other factors. e report, titled "Nonbank Mortgage Servicers: Existing Regulatory Oversight Could Be Strengthened," noted that the CFPB, which directly oversees nonbank servicers to make sure they are compliant with federal laws that govern consumer financial protection, does not have a full record of entities under its purview because it lacks a mechanism to develop a com- prehensive list of nonbank servicers. e GAO also noted in the report that FHFA has indirect oversight over third parties that do business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but unlike bank regu- lators, FHFA lacks the statutory authority to examine the third par- ties and identify risks that could possibly affect Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "Congress should consider granting FHFA authority to examine third parties that do business with the enterprises," the GAO recommended. "In addition, CFPB should take steps to collect more data on the identity and number of nonbank servicers. FHFA agreed that there should be parity among financial institution regulators in oversight authority of regulated entities and third parties they do business with. CFPB agreed that more data could supplement existing information but noted that the current data limitation does not materially affect its work." "Congress should consider granting FHFA authority to examine third parties that do business with the enterprises."