AP - During the housing crash, it was good to be a foreclosure king. David Stern was Florida’s top foreclosure lawyer, and he lived like an oil sheik. He piled up a collection of trophy properties, glided through town in a fleet of six-figure sports cars and, with his bombshell wife, partied on an ocean cruiser the size of a small hotel.
AP - Homebuilder PulteGroup Inc. on Friday expressed guarded optimism that sales trends so far this year could signal improved home sales this spring.
AP - Bank of America Corp. on Thursday said it is splitting its mortgage business into two units, with a new division created specifically to handle foreclosures and discontinued loan products.
Reuters - Bank of America Corp appointed on Friday a new foreclosure and loan modifications czar, and created a new unit to oversee problem home loans in a bid to sort out its on-going foreclosure issues, becoming the first large U.S. bank to do so.
Reuters - The Obama administration has plans to reduce the role of government backed mortgages, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to less than 50 percent of the market from a dominant role today, CNBC reported on Friday.
Private-equity giant Blackstone Group’s fourth-quarter loss narrowed, and a measure of adjusted profit rose, beating analysts’ estimates, as the company’s revenue increased sharply.
A year ago, in what seemed like a supreme irony, the Mortgage Bankers Association sold its headquarters at a big loss. On Thursday, insult was added to injury: The building’s buyer has flipped it for a big profit.
Reuters - The Obama administration on Friday said it wants to gradually reduce the government’s support for the U.S. housing market so that the private sector can play “the dominant role.”
Blackstone’s once-embarrassing Hilton investment has turned profitable, helping Blackstone’s real-estate group score gains that are expected to be a big part of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release.
With bank financing for new construction in short supply, real-estate developers are turning to a federal program that grants green cards to foreign nationals who invest at least $500,000 in a project.
| 
