Thursday, August 21, 2008 - 7:19 AM PDT

Fannie Mae opens satellite offices to sell foreclosures

East Bay Business Times - by Brian Bandell

Fannie Mae is rethinking how it will handle the tens of thousands of properties being repossessed as the real estate market continues to plummet.

To that end, it is opening two satellite offices, one in California and another in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to manage and sell its foreclosed properties in those states, said Marilyn Kornfeld, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based company.

Nationwide, Fannie Mae has repossessed more than 54,000 homes as of June, exceeding all of last year's repossessions.

"Forty-eight percent of our credit losses were from four states: California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida. These states saw the most dramatic run-up in prices, and are now seeing the most rapid declines," Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd told investors during a conference call earlier this month.

Home prices have cratered in certain markets since the peak. In California, Riverside was down 40 percent and Modesto and Stockton were down 50 percent.

"So, the housing market has returned to earth fast and hard," Mudd said. "Some signs do offer rays of positive light. Foreclosures actually fell in Michigan. Same-period home sales were up in California. And, as the [government-sponsored entities] provide most of the liquidity to the primary market, that market is functioning and a safe center of credit risk; pricing and product is being restored."

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) said it hopes its new offices in Florida and California will reduce defaults and better manage the property it has taken in foreclosure.

Washington Business Journal

http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/ ... ?ana=yfcpc