The data and analytics company Black Knight reports the July’s numbers show the national mortgage delinquency rate dropped 5 percent in July and is now approaching pre-pandemic levels. However, about 1.45 million borrowers remained 90 or more days past due – though not yet in foreclosure – more than 1 million more than at the onset of the pandemic. “Delinquencies have now improved in 12 of the last 14 months, with the two monthly increases being calendar-related as opposed to being indicative of worsening performance,” the company reports. Their analysis follows last week’s news that the number of homeowners exiting mortgage forbearance is up. The “total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 14 basis points from 3.40% of…
Mortgage interest rates are remaining low and steady week-over-week, holding firm amid low supply and uncertain expectations about the overall direction the housing market is taking. Rates barely budged compared to last week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly rate survey, with 30-year, 15-year and 5/1 ARM rates all moving no more than one basis point up or down: The 30-year rate dropped one basis point to 2.86 percent, while the 15-year rate went up one point to 2.16 percent and the 5/1 ARM dropped one point to 2.43 percent. “Mortgage rates stayed relatively flat this week,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said in the press release. “Housing is in a similar phase of the economic cycle as many other…
The number of Americans filing mortgage applications dropped by several critical short-term metrics this week as signs abounded of an ongoing homebuying slowdown across the country. The Mortgage Bankers Association this week recorded a nearly four percent drop in mortgage applications week over week, posting a 3.9 percent decline in applications relative to the prior seven days. The weekly drop comes after the MBA revealed a yearly drop of more than 25 percent as well as a month-over-month drop of about four percent. MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan pointed out in the weekly report that “mortgage rates were at their highest levels in around a month, with the 30-year fixed rate increasing above 3…
As the chaos in Afghanistan continues, significant attention is being paid to the veterans returning home from that lengthy war and the challenges they face upon arriving home. Among those challenges is finding adequate housing for themselves and their families. Governments and private charities have developed numerous initiatives to help facilitate easy veteran entry into the housing market, including favorable loan terms and gifts of debt-free newly built housing. Numerous private lenders have also launched programs to help veterans obtain homeownership in a variety of ways. Among them is JP Morgan Chase, one of the largest lenders in the U.S. Company spokeswoman Ashlei Bobo told the Mortgage Note this week that the company partners with the U.S. Department of Veteran…
Mortgage applications declined sharply in the past month, plummeting year-over-year and seeing a small but still pronounced decline from the prior month. Applications for new home purchases “decreased 27.4 percent compared from a year ago,” the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its weekly application report. Meanwhile, compared to June 2021, applications decreased by 4 percent.” MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Khan suggested the steep drop is not as dire as it initially appears. “Mortgage applications for new home purchases declined in July – as is typical most summers when home sales start to moderate – but did come in at the second-strongest July reading since the inception of MBA’s survey in 2012,” he argued in…
The dramatic fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban over the past week has underscored the instability of the region and the difficulties of engaging in a two-decade-long conflict in a foreign country. It has also highlighted the difficulties faced by many U.S. veterans who have been serving in that country for years—the tremendous challenges of deployment can often be exacerbated by the concurrent difficulties in returning to civilian life. Among them can be finding housing, whether it’s a rental apartment or a mortgage-financed home. The Disabled Veterans National Foundation notes that, while veteran households tend to have higher homeownership rates than non-veterans, younger veterans have “astonishingly higher cost burdens” than older ones. “Twenty-first century veterans are far less likely than previous generations…
The number of homeowners exiting mortgage forbearance increased this week, continuing an optimistic trend that comes alongside steadily improving economic numbers. The “total number of loans now in forbearance decreased by 14 basis points from 3.40% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week to 3.26%,” the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its weekly forbearance report. The drop comes after a similar decrease last week; the decline has been ongoing for over a month, occurring alongside a limping but consistent economic recovery. “The largest decrease in a month in the share of loans in forbearance came from a jump in forbearance exits, as many homeowners are nearing the end of their forbearance terms,” MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said in…
Multiple diverse housing markets across the U.S. are continuing to observe pronounced dips in home sales as the white-hot real estate market continues a small but steady cooldown after a year of frenzy. In Des Moines, Iowa, home sales were down more than two percent month-over-month in July and nearly seven percent year-over-year. That drop comes amid a notable dip in the number of homes for sale on the market. In Indianapolis, meanwhile, a “year-long streak in increasing sales” came to an end last month, with a roughly identical drop in year-over-year sales as was observed in Des Moines. The “last time area sales fell on a year-over-year basis was in June 2020,” the Indianapolis Business Journal reports. Nashville saw…
Mortgage rates ticked up in the past week amid a modestly brighter economic outlook, the first time rates have increased in weeks even as signs of a housing cooldown have persisted elsewhere. The 30-year fixed rate “increased by ten basis points week over week” after a six-week decline, Freddie Mac said in its weekly interest rate report. Specifically, the 30-year rate jumped from 2.77 percent last week to 2.87 percent this week; the rate still remains lower than where it stood a year ago, at 2.96 percent. The 15-year rate, meanwhile, rose five basis points to 2.15 percent, while the 5-year ARM rose from 2.40 percent to 2.44 percent. Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said the jumps follow “broad…
One possible explanation for the sharp decrease in housing stock throughout the U.S.? Demographics. Some analysts believe a wave of Millennial homebuyers are at least partially responsible for the severe housing crunch that has sent U.S. home prices skyrocketing and launched a seemingly endless frenzy in which buyers are competing in a cutthroat market for a dwindling supply of homes. Data indicate that Millennials form the largest share of current homebuyers: Older and younger members of that group make up nearly 40 percent of all homebuyers today, according to data from the National Association of Retailers. Millennials still make up the smallest share of U.S. homeowner demographics, but data from Apartment List show that, among major U.S. age groups, their…
