Housing News Digest, January 25

Mortgage loan payoffs hit 10-year low
The number of mortgage loans paid off in Colorado was down 6.4 percent in 2011 compared with 2010, according to a new report from the Colorado Division of Housing.

A total of 235,749 deeds of trust were released in 2011, falling from 2010's total of 251,861, the report states.

Typically, a release of a deed of trust occurs when a real estate loan is paid off, which can include a refinancing, a sale of the property or because the owner has made the final payment on the loan. Release activity declines as refinance and home-sale activity falls.

Read more: Mortgage loan payoffs hit 10-year low - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_19817386#ixzz1kU5AYnZX
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Survey Aims At Solving Homelessness
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- More than 70 volunteers, including 12 Fort Carson troops, gathered in Colorado Springs to conduct a survey of the homeless population in town. The survey was aimed at gathering a headcount of the homeless individuals as well as recording demographic information from that population.

The survey is conducted in compliance with requirements set forth by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Crowne Plaza hotel focus of court battle
One of the oldest and largest hotels in the Colorado Springs area, the Crowne Plaza, could end up in new management hands as the result of financial and legal battles.

The hotel’s owners, Stamford Real Estate (Colorado Springs) LLC and Harrell Colorado Operating Co. LLC, defaulted in July after failing to repay a $30.8 million loan used to buy and remodel the property. The 500-room hotel at 2886 S. Circle Drive remains open. But the default prompted Wells Fargo Bank to ask 4th Judicial District Judge Gregory Werner on Jan. 11 to name a Florida hotel executive as receiver for the property. Wells Fargo is trustee for a Boston-based trust that owns the loan.

Anxiety Mounts Over Maturing Real Estate Loans

Borrowers and lenders are starting to grapple with the billions of dollars in commercial real estate loans made during the boom year of 2007 that are coming due this year, in a greatly contracted economy.

Experts have warned of a rash of recapitalizations, refinancings and building sales. In New York City alone, nearly $70 billion worth of commercial mortgages that were bundled together and issued as collateral for bonds are maturing this year. Of those, $26 billion, or 37.4 percent, are five-year loans that were originated during the height of the real estate bubble, when underwriting standards were loosest, according to data from the research firm Trepp LLC.

Obama Answers Bernanke Plea With Refinancing Plan: Mortgages

President Barack Obama answered Ben S. Bernanke's appeal for more action to fix the U.S. housing market that's restraining the economic recovery by proposing a plan to help borrowers reduce their monthly mortgage payments.

Obama is sending Congress legislation that would allow homeowners to tap record-low borrowing costs, potentially boosting housing as he seeks re-election this year. The proposal could save participants about $3,000 a year, Obama said in his State of the Union speech to Congress.