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HUD April Housing Scorecard

On May 9, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released an update titled Obama Administration Releases April Housing Scorecard.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION RELEASES APRIL HOUSING SCORECARD

Las Vegas, NV Metropolitan Area Shows Signs of Improvement

WASHINGTON– The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the April edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. This month’s Housing Scorecard also features a spotlight on the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area (Las Vegas MSA). The latest data show progress among key indicators.  While house prices remain stable and equity continues to grow, new and existing home sales have slowed. While this scorecard notes positive overall trends in the housing market, officials caution that the harsh winter slowed growth as the economy recovers from the Great Recession. The full Housing Scorecard and spotlight on the Las Vegas MSA are available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.

“April’s Housing Scorecard shows that the housing market is stabilizing, as home prices have risen nearly 7 percent from last year, and foreclosure completions are at their lowest level since mid-2007,” said HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research Katherine O’Regan. “However, the harsh winter, fewer distressed properties on the market, and continued tight credit standards have combined to slow the pace of home sales this month, indicating we need to remain vigilant to keep the recovery robust.”

“While the housing market continues to make progress, there are still many homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments,” said Treasury Acting Assistant Secretary Tim Bowler. “Treasury remains committed to helping homeowners through our programs under Making Home Affordable (MHA). As this report shows, nearly 1.3 million homeowners have received a permanent modification through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the program has saved homeowners an estimated $26.8 billion to date in monthly mortgage payments.”

The April Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the Administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:

  • House prices remain stable. As of February 2014, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) purchase-only house price index rose 6.9 percent from last year and ticked up 0.6 percent (seasonally adjusted) from January. The FHFA seasonally adjusted purchase-only index for the U.S. shows that home values are on par with prices in mid-2005. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index for February posted returns of 12.9 percent over the past 12 months and was virtually the same (not seasonally adjusted) from January. Prices, however, are typically weaker at this time of the year. The Case-Shiller index shows that home values are back to their mid-2004 levels. (The Case-Shiller and FHFA price indices are released with a 2-month lag.)
  • Foreclosure completions are at their lowest level since mid-2007. A total of 28,840 U.S. properties were repossessed by lenders (Real Estate Owned, or REO) in March, down 5 percent from February and down 34 percent from a year ago—to the lowest level since July 2007. Newly initiated foreclosures, at 55,710 U.S. properties, were up 7 percent from February but still down 24 percent from one year ago.  (Source: Realty Trac).
  • New Home Sales Have Slowed in Recent Months. Purchases of new homes dropped 14.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 384,000 in March—an eight-month low. New home sales were down 13.3 percent from a year earlier, the first annual decline since the third quarter of 2011. (Source: HUD and Census Bureau).
  • The Administration’s foreclosure mitigation programs continue to provide relief for millions of homeowners as the recovery from the housing crisis continues. More than 2.0 million homeowner assistance actions have taken place through the Making Home Affordable Program, including nearly 1.4 million permanent modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), while the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has offered nearly 2.3 million loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions through March. The Administration’s programs continue to encourage improved standards and processes in the industry, with HOPE Now lenders offering families and individuals more than 4.0 million proprietary modifications through February (data are reported with a 2-month lag). In all, more than 8.3 million mortgage modification and other forms of mortgage assistance arrangements were completed between April 2009 and the end of March 2014.

This month’s Housing Scorecard also features a regional spotlight on market strength in the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area (Las Vegas MSA). Like many areas across the country, the economic and housing market conditions in the Las Vegas area are improving, but the housing crisis and recession hit this area particularly hard and their economic recovery started later. The Administration’s broad approach to stabilize the housing market has been provided help to homeowners throughout the Las Vegas MSA.

“As the national housing market continues to improve, the Las Vegas metropolitan area is also showing signs of recovery from the recession,” said O’Regan. “As the regional spotlight shows, the Las Vegas MSA was one of the hardest-hit areas during the housing crisis. House prices plummeted by 60 percent during the housing downturn in the Las Vegas area and there was a sharp increase in the number of distressed mortgages. While it’s clear Administration efforts have helped the area rebound, more work must be done to help homeowners in this area struggling from an excess of  housing construction and unsustainable mortgage lending in the years leading up to the housing crisis and recession.”

The Housing Scorecard Regional Spotlight features data on the health of the Las Vegas MSA housing market and impact of efforts to help homeowners at the local level including:

  • Economic and housing market conditions in the Las Vegas MSA are improving. Although the recovery from the recession started later in Las Vegas, jobs have been increasing at an average annual rate of 18,450, or 2.3 percent, from the first quarter of 2011 through the fourth quarter of 2013. As of January 2014, the rate of distressed mortgages has fallen from a peak of 19.8 percent to 7.6 percent compared to a decline from 8.0 to 4.5 percent nationally. The share of underwater mortgages remains high but has dropped to 32.6 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2013, down from 55.0 percent a year earlier.
  • Administration Programs Are Providing Much Needed Relief to the Last Vegas MSA. The Administration’s broad approach to stabilizing the Las Vegas housing market has contributed to the improvements as more than 82,100 homeowners received mortgage assistance between April 2009 and March 2014. Furthermore, the Las Vegas MSA has benefitted from $154 million in funding from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and the State of Nevada has received $194 million from the Hardest Hit Fund program.

The National Mortgage Servicing Settlement is continuing to provide relief for those in the Las Vegas metropolitan area and throughout the state of Nevada. Under the landmark National Mortgage Servicing Settlement, more than 20,400 Nevada homeowners have benefitted from over $1.9 billion in refinancing, short sales and completed or trial loan modifications, including principal reduction on first and second lien mortgages provided as of June 30, 2013. Nationwide, the settlement has provided more than $50 billion in consumer relief benefits to more than 631,000 families. That is in addition to the $2.5 billion in payments to participating states and $1.5 billion in direct payments to borrowers who were foreclosed upon between 2008 and 2011.

Please click here to view the online update.

About Safeguard 
Safeguard Properties is the largest mortgage field services company in the U.S. Founded in 1990 by Robert Klein and based in Valley View, Ohio, the company inspects and maintains defaulted and foreclosed properties for mortgage servicers, lenders, and other financial institutions. Safeguard employs approximately 1,700 people, in addition to a network of thousands of contractors nationally. Website: www.safeguardproperties.com.

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CEO

Alan Jaffa

Alan Jaffa is the Chief Executive Officer for Safeguard Properties, steering the company as the mortgage field services industry leader. He also serves on the board of advisors for SCG Partners, a middle-market private equity fund focused on diversifying and expanding Safeguard Properties’ business model into complimentary markets.

Alan joined Safeguard in 1995, learning the business from the ground up. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2002, and was named CEO in May 2010. His hands-on experience has given him unique insights as a leader to innovate, improve and strengthen Safeguard’s processes to assure that the company adheres to the highest standards of quality and customer service.

Under Alan’s leadership, Safeguard has grown significantly with strategies that have included new and expanded services, technology investments that deliver higher quality and greater efficiency to clients, and strategic acquisitions. He takes a team approach to process improvement, involving staff at all levels of the organization to address issues, brainstorm solutions, and identify new and better ways to serve clients.

In 2008, Alan was recognized by Crain’s Cleveland Business in its annual “40-Under-40” profile of young leaders. He also was named a NEO Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award finalist in 2013.

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Esq., General Counsel and EVP

Linda Erkkila

Linda Erkkila is the General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Safeguard Properties, with oversight of legal, human resources, training, and compliance. Linda’s broad scope of oversight covers regulatory issues that impact Safeguard’s operations, risk mitigation, strategic planning, human resources and training initiatives, compliance, insurance, litigation and claims management, and counsel related to mergers, acquisition and joint ventures.

Linda assures that Safeguard’s strategic initiatives align with its resources, leverage opportunities across the company, and contemplate compliance mandates. She has practiced law for 25 years and her experience, both as outside and in-house counsel, covers a wide range of corporate matters, including regulatory disclosure, corporate governance compliance, risk assessment, compensation and benefits, litigation management, and mergers and acquisitions.

Linda earned her JD at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. She holds a degree in economics from Miami University and an MBA. Linda was previously named as both a “Woman of Influence” by HousingWire and as a “Leading Lady” by MReport.

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COO

Michael Greenbaum

Michael Greenbaum is the Chief Operating Officer of Safeguard Properties, where he has played a pivotal role since joining the company in July 2010. Initially brought on as Vice President of REO, Mike’s exceptional leadership and strategic vision quickly propelled him to Vice President of Operations in 2013, and ultimately to COO in 2015. Over his 14-year tenure at Safeguard, Mike has been instrumental in driving change and fostering innovation within the Property Preservation sector, consistently delivering excellence and becoming a trusted partner to clients and investors.

A distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mike earned a degree in Quantitative Economics. Following his graduation, he served in the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Branch, where he specialized in supply chain management. Before his tenure at Safeguard, Mike honed his expertise by managing global supply chains for 13 years, leveraging his military and civilian experience to lead with precision and efficacy.

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CFO

Joe Iafigliola

Joe Iafigliola is the Chief Financial Officer for Safeguard Properties. Joe is responsible for the Control, Quality Assurance, Business Development, Marketing, Accounting, and Information Security departments. At the core of his responsibilities is the drive to ensure that Safeguard’s focus remains rooted in Customer Service = Resolution. Through his executive leadership role, he actively supports SGPNOW.com, an on-demand service geared towards real estate and property management professionals as well as individual home owners in need of inspection and property preservation services. Joe is also an integral force behind Compliance Connections, a branch of Safeguard Properties that allows code enforcement professionals to report violations at properties that can then be addressed by the Safeguard vendor network. Compliance Connections also researches and shares vacant property ordinance information with Safeguard clients.

Joe has an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), and holds a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University’s Honors Accounting program.

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Business Development

Carrie Tackett

Business Development Safeguard Properties