HUD Scorecard: Home Sales Rise, Prices Dip

On Tuesday ""HUD"":http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD and the ""Treasury Department"":http://www.treasury.gov/Pages/default.aspx jointly released the June edition of the Obama administration's ""Housing Scorecard"":http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=OPA_June_Scorecard_FINAL.pdf, offering mixed results as home sales crested on a slight uptick and an oversupply of foreclosed properties remained in place.

[IMAGE]

""The housing data in this month's ""Scorecard"":http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=OPA_June_Scorecard_FINAL.pdf paint a mixed picture of the housing market, despite growing evidence of progress in the broader economy,"" Raphael Bostic, ""HUD"":http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD assistant secretary, said in the statement. ""Last month we saw a slight uptick in home prices and a continued decline in mortgage defaults├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬ª but we have much more work to do to reach the many households who still face trouble and to help the market recover.

[COLUMN_BREAK]

""That is why this Administration continues to push for effective implementation of our recovery programs as we continue to help homeowners through this crisis,"" he said.

According to the ""Scorecard"":http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=OPA_June_Scorecard_FINAL.pdf, existing home sales jumped slightly over June, trending from 25,100 to 26,900. Mortgage rates elevated the new home sales by staying low, with a number of borrowers refinancing their mortgages to recoup losses and boost their savings. Home prices declined by 3.6 percent from the same period in 2010, reflecting a continued strain of volatility in the housing market.

""The Administration remains committed to reaching homeowners who are still struggling so that our country can fully recover from an unprecedented housing crisis,"" Tim Massad, ""Treasury"":http://www.treasury.gov/Pages/default.aspx assistant secretary for financial stability, added in the statement. ""The Administration's programs continue to benefit tens of thousands of additional homeowners every month, while keeping the pressure on mortgage servicers to offer more sustainable assistance to prevent avoidable foreclosures.""

The ""Scorecard"":http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=OPA_June_Scorecard_FINAL.pdf also reported data for the 10 largest loan servicers, using a series of reviews to identify six considerable improvement areas. The servicers included big-name lenders ""Bank of America"":https://www.bankofamerica.com/, ""J.P. Morgan Chase Bank"":https://www.chase.com/, ""Wells Fargo Bank"":https://www.wellsfargo.com/jump/checking/simplifyonline, and ""Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC"":http://www.ocwen.com/.

The ""Housing Scorecard"":http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=OPA_June_Scorecard_FINAL.pdf is a monthly report issued by ""HUD"":http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD and ""Treasury"":http://www.treasury.gov/Pages/default.aspx that assesses and projects changes in the housing market.