A look at news across HousingWire’s weekend desk, with more coverage to come on bigger issues: More than one quarter of foreclosed properties liquidated in 2008 and 2009 sold at more than a 40% discount, according to one mortgage technology firm. FNC Inc. said the bottom quarter of foreclosed properties sold at deep discounts again in 2010, while the remaining 75% experienced signs of modest improvement. The company said its residential price index gauges distressed sales better than others because it measures the impact of foreclosures and delinquent mortgages on the market-clearing prices of the foreclosed properties. “Existing measure of foreclosure discount simply report the ratio of average liquidating price of foreclosed properties to average sales price of non-distressed sales,” according to Yanling Mayer, senior research economist at FNC. “While useful as a general indicator of market distress, the foreclosure discount computed as such cannot be used reliably to measure the impact of market distress on the final liquidating price of foreclosed homes. Foreclosure and non-foreclosure sales samples are generally not comparable because of the difference in size, non-size physical attributes and conditions, neighborhoods, etc.” The FNC index tracks monthly home prices based on non-distressed property sales only. A fifth real estate investor pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public foreclosure auctions in San Joaquin County, Calif. The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California said Yama Marifat of Pleasanton, Calif., pleaded guilty to bid rigging and faces up to 10 years in jail and a $1 million fee. Officials said Marifat and conspirators suppressed and restrained competition in the foreclosure sales by agreeing not to bid against each other, as a designated bidder purchased a property. Then a second, private auction was held with the illicit profit in the difference paid at the public auction and the private auction split among the conspirators. “By rigging public auctions of foreclosed properties, the defendants who have pleaded guilty as a result of this investigation illegally manipulated the market for residential real estate,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said. “The Department of Justice is committed to improving the transparency and integrity of that market, and we will continue to investigate and prosecute those who would seek to undermine the market through their illegal activities.” Marifat participated in the scheme roughly between April and October of 2009, according to the Justice Department. Barclays Capital said mortgage prepayment speeds slowed in February with the aggregate Fannie Mae, 30-year prepayments falling 21% from a month earlier. Analysts said “the pace of decline slowed for lower coupons but remained steady for higher coupons, alleviating concerns that servicers are aggressively going up in coupon for HARP refinances.” BarCap analysts Derek Chen and Wei-Ang Lee said some market participants were concerned higher mortgage interest rates and a lack of volume prompted originators to aggressively refinance higher coupons, especially HARP-eligible pools. “We never bought into this theory, and instead have argued that the smaller decline reflected a longer lag in these cohorts owing to a smaller loan size and worse credit,” the analysts said. “The latest report seems to support our view, since the 2008 5.5-6s have posted a bigger (monthly) drop than last month relative to lower coupons.” And JPMorgan Chase speeds declined as well, they said. The analysts believe uncertainties surrounding prepayment speeds have come down dramatically as most of the slowdown caused by the sell off over the past few months “should have materialized.” Another 15% drop in refinancing activity in April is expected by the analysts. But they also forecast a rebound in seasonal turnover and an increase in the number of days in April to offset the decline. “Overall, we expect a 0.5 to 1.5 CPR pickup in most coupons except 4.5s and lower,” the BarCap analysts said. For the first time in 2011, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. didn’t close any banks last week. After nearly 300 financial institutions failed over the past two years, 23 banks failed in the first two months of 2011. And what would a news story be this week if it didn’t include some reference to Charlie Sheen. The Wall Street Journal reported Sheen is buying another home in the same Beverly Hills, Calif., neighborhood in which he already lives. Although one could argue the seller is winning. He purchased the property for $6 million just a few months ago and is now selling it to Sheen for $7.5 million, according to the Journal. Write to Jason Philyaw.