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HousingWire's Morning Radar provides a look at what's trending across the Internet.
Short sales pass foreclosures
Servicers completed more short sales in January than the sale of foreclosed homes, according to a story in Bloomberg.
Short sales accounted fro 23.9% of home purchases that month, compared to 19.7% of foreclosure purchases. The story cites Lender Processing Services data.
Jonathan Weiner, VP of LPS Applied Analytics, said short sales could help home values bottom faster. He told Bloomberg the baseline scenario for prices should reach a low-point at the end of 2012.
Another major bank touts mortgages
U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis told CNBC Tuesday mortgage demand was the highest in the firm's history.
"It's looking pretty good. People are buying homes" and prices are going up in some markets," he said.
The bank reported record mortgage growth, mostly for repurchases and refinancing. Davis echoed executives at Wells Fargo earlier in the week, who said the mortgage business is beginning to rejuvenate.
Still other firms, mainly Bank of America, appear to be moving out. How much market share BofA gave up in the first quarter is expected to be revealed Thursday, when the bank reports its financials.
Citi shareholders reject exec pay proposal
For the first time, investors of a major U.S. bank voted against a board's compensation plan.
In Dallas Tuesday, Citi shareholders rejected a plan that would pay CEO Vikram Pandit $15 million. A New York Times story said while Citi has made some progress, voters believed it hasn't picked up enough since the crisis to approve the compensation levels.
"They're not bankrupt, but you don't get rewarded for not being bankrupt," said Brian Wenzinger, a principal at money management company Aronson Johnson Ortiz, in the story.
- Jon Prior
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