First American CoreLogic, a member of The First American Corp. (FAF) family and a provider of property and ownership information, analytics and services, announced Tuesday it had entered a partnership with start-up real estate search engine Roost Inc. The partnership will offer real estate investors quick access to information on more than 1.5 million foreclosed homes, both companies said in a statement. The Roost Web site offers an array of information on any one piece of real estate — from location to size and number of bedrooms — as well as its foreclosure status, from just-announced to auction, bank sale or reintroduction to the general real estate market. With this partnership, investors will be able to view summary property-level foreclosure data with instant access to RealQuest, First American CoreLogic’s online property record Web site, with detailed property-level reporting on 97 percent of all U.S. properties. “We are excited to have Roost.com become one of our national data syndication distributors,” said Michael Maron, senior vice president of First American CoreLogic. “Roost’s superior search technology enables real estate investors and homebuyers to act on great property opportunities quickly and thoughtfully, especially during the current downturn in the real estate market.” With home prices continuing to decline, according to recent from Radar Logic Inc., the buyer’s market is likely to be flooded with property opportunities for investors looking to stretch dollars. The downward home price trend has not bottomed out, however, and the 17-year low in new home sales suggests consumers are increasingly hesitant to become homebuyers even though prices are low. “The upside of these challenging economic times is that real estate investors can help reinvigorate some markets, especially those hardest hit by the mortgage meltdown,” said Alex Chang, Roost chief executive officer. “Because we offer listings at every stage of the foreclosure process, real estate investors can jump on immediate opportunities, while homes that don’t sell right away or at auction will be reintroduced to the traditional market, giving everyday homebuyers a chance to purchase their dream home.” Write to Diana Golobay at [email protected]. Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.

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