Refi "boom" over ?

...Maybe, according to Freddie Mac, as reported in a CNN article, Rates are up and new orders are expected to be down. This is the thrid week in a row that mortgage rates have been trending upward.

Don't expect March rates to bring any relief, most forecasts are for higher mortgage rates . As you can see (left) 30yr fixed rates are at November 2007 levels and the forecasts are for
steady increases in 10 year T note as well as the 30 year mortgage until at least May 08(right). However, interest rates are still very low when compared with the last 40 years (see below) and there is no reason to think think they will increase dramatically if inflation stays in check.

Sub 5.5% mortgage rates are not needed to emerge from a recession and/or housing slump. The S&L crisis of the 1980's which was a contributing factor to the early 1990's recession , lead to a recovery in the Mid 1990's. And during that period rates were higher than today (7.1% +/-). So there is no reason to think that rates in the 6-6.5% range are too high for a full housing recovery. Good thing too because it is unlikely we will see rates below 5.5% in the near future, lets just hope that the early 2000's sub-prime lending mistakes, won't lead to a late 2000's recession.

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. Signs Agreement with LandAmerica for SoftPro Select

Below is a press release from Fidelity National Information Services

"Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE:FIS) has signed and agreement with LandAmerica to implement FIS’ SoftPro Select, a title and closing production package that will power LandAmerica Link, LandAmerica’s enterprise wide title and escrow system. Built on Microsoft’s .NET platform, SoftPro Select is a technologically advanced real estate solution that can easily scale to serve LandAmerica’s more than 8,000 users in more than 800 direct offices nationwide. LandAmerica researched more than 40 alternatives before settling on SoftPro Select as the foundation for its single title and escrow system. “Having studied all the options, SoftPro was our absolute first choice,” said Melissa A. Hill, president for Residential Services at LandAmerica. “We are excited about the opportunities FIS and SoftPro Select bring to LandAmerica.”SoftPro is now the product of choice for two of the nation’s largest underwriters, LandAmerica and Fidelity National Financial, a Fortune 500 company that began deploying SoftPro’s closing and title solutions in all of its direct operations more than two years ago."

A few comments: Fidelity National Information Services aka FNIS, is a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial, Inc., a direct competitor to LandAmerica, so it is noteworthy that FNIS would be interested in selling is technology to them. This seem to be a departure of the the thought that title/escrow software packages are used to get a leg-up on the competition to thinking of them as more of a commodity. But dont expect this to become a trend, as the other two main title underwriters, Stewart Title and First American Title ,are very entrenched in there own software packages (AIM and Streamline, respectivly) and would be unlikely to switch.

Furthermore to this beer i would like two of your finest, cheapest cigars

People who are not who they say they are, are a major source of fraud in the real estate closing arena. Think of a husband trying to sell a house without his wife knowing about it, so he has a female friend pose as his wife and she uses a fake drivers licence to identify herself. And while the closing agent will make a copy of the buyers and seller ID's and put it in the file, most are not trained to spot fake ID's.

So I have found a couple of cool technologies to aid in spotting fake ID's :

• WeScanIds
  
  This is a company out of Texas has a scanner software solution that work with IDs from all 50 states. Here’s how it works: feed the ID into the scanner, 4 seconds later it spits it back out and informs you whether or not the ID has been tampered with. It does this my examining the barcode and/or the magnetic strip on the back of the ID and comparing it to the name and information on the front, and also by examining any holograms or special graphics on the ID and determining if they are legit. The cost is $1800 +/- and will be paired with a yet to be determined maintenance fee, which will keep the ID database up to date.
  
  
• Fraud Fighter
  
  
  Fraud-Fighter has two products to help identify fake ID's. One is a simple UV light which help to expose to fake ID's by revealing (or not revealing) symbols or seals that can only be see under UV light. (see left). Another option is their handheld magnetic strip reader with an optional barcode reader. This is a compact unit which displays the ID holders age as well as their information from the ID. It does not compare bar code or magnetic strip information to the information on the front of the ID or check for holograms, But it looks to be a good choice if compactness is a priority. No prices were listed on the Fraud Fighter web site.