Reliant Mortgage Company

The potential Federal Government Shutdown will delay the mortgage processing and closings.

A shutdown would delay the processing of FHA, USDA, and VA loans, as well as holdup tax transcript verifications and the issuance of flood insurance.

HUD owned properties would most likely not close.

Nationwide pending sales of existing homes unexpectedly rose in February the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported, foreshadowing an increase in home sales.

The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index, based on contracts signed in February, increased 2.1% to 90.8.

Lenders have initiated more than 500,000 short sales on Equator's short sale platform in the past year, the company reported today.

Equator said it has seen "substantial growth" in its short sale operations, including a platform built specifically for the government's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, which launched in April 2010, to provide incentives to servicers for short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure.

Equator reported on initiated short sales, meaning not all deals have closed. Short sales are a long and tedious process, as borrowers, servicers, lenders, and investors must all agree on the terms of sale.