Americans’ average credit score rose seven points from 2020 to Q2 2021, reaching 695, the highest average in more than 13 years, according to Experian’s State of Credit report. “The findings from this year’s report show something I’ve always believed: Americans are resilient, for the most part they make smart decisions in the face of adversity and they are agile in adjusting their financial habits when the environment or circumstances change,” said Alex Lintner, President, Experian Consumer Information Services. Consumers across all generations except Gen Z lowered their credit card balances and utilization rates. They also missed fewer payments. Minnesota held the highest average score, 726, while Mississippi held the lowest, 666. New Jersey had the highest number of credit…
Home prices rose 1.4% in July, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index (FHFA HPI). Year-over-year house prices are up 19.2%. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly house price changes rose 0.8% in the West North Central division and fell 1.9% in the South Atlantic division. The West North Central division saw an increase of 15.6% over the same time the previous year. There was also a 25.6% increase in the Mountain division. “Record appreciation rates for the U.S. continued in July,” said Dr. Lynn Fisher, FHFA’s Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics. “Although the monthly pace of increase slowed in most Census Divisions in July, four areas experienced year over year…
More than half of respondents to a Realtor.com survey said they considered natural disasters when deciding where to live. Millennials and Gen Z were particularly wary of potential disasters when choosing a home. Disaster fears have grown over the last five years, with 47% of homeowners becoming more concerned over time. Of current homeowners, 62% expressed fears about the threat of natural disasters to their homes. The most concerned demographics were recent buyers, Millennials, Gen X, and urban homeowners. These groups also reported the most growth in their fears over the last five years. Baby Boomers, the Silent Generation, and rural homeowners weren’t as worried overall; half said they weren’t concerned at all. More than half of Millennial and Gen…
Forbearances fell again last week, continuing to trend down as relief plans expire, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. Forbearances made up just 2.96% of servicers’ portfolio volume, down from 3.00%. It’s the first time they’ve fallen below 3% since March 2020. The estimated number of homeowners in forbearance plans is around 1.5 million. For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, the August 2021 number was down three basis points to 1.44%. Ginnie Mae loans rose three basis points to 3.42%. Portfolio loans and private-label securities shares fell four basis points, from 6.95% to 6.91%. Independent mortgage bank servicers saw a drop of one basis point to 3.24%, and the share for depository servicers declined four points…
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae completed 217,020 foreclosure prevention actions in Q2, bringing the number of homeowners the GSEs have helped during conservatorship to 6.030 million, according to the Federal Housing Finance Authority’s Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report. 57% of loan modifications reduced monthly payments by more than 20%, though the number of refinances began to fall in Q2. Forbearance starts dropped 32% to 6,233 in the second quarter, while third-party and foreclosure sales fell 9% to 2,281. The GSEs’ serious delinquency rate dropped from 2.48% to 1.99% by the end of Q2. The total number of loans in forbearance continues to drop from its latest peak in May 2021, though new forbearance plans fell but stayed high through Q2…
Home prices have fallen a bit in recent weeks thanks to increasing inventory and buyer sticker shock, but expectations of a cooling market may be premature. A new report from Redfin found that early homebuyer demand reached its highest point in at least three years during the four-week period ending September 19. The report showed other housing market measures slowing at a normal rate for the end of summer. Pending sales fell 12% from their 2021 peak, and the number of homes selling above their list price fell. Time on market rose to 20 days. Asking prices also rose 2.4%. While that’s typical for September, the number itself is not: the median asking price rose 11% year-over-year to $359,724, an…
Homeowner equity grew $2.9 trillion since Q2 2020, up 29.3%, CoreLogic’s Homeowner Equity Report found. That shakes out to $51,500 in gains for the average borrower. Homeowners with mortgages make up roughly 63% of all residential properties in the U.S. Fifty-nine percent of borrowers reported they felt highly confident in their ability to make their mortgage payments in the coming year. This is great news for underwater borrowers. The number of homes in negative equity has fallen 30% since Q2 2020. In Q2 2021 alone, the number of underwater homes fell 12% to 1.2 million homes, 2.3% of all mortgaged properties. The national aggregate value of negative equity dropped from $273.2 billion to $268 billion, a year-over-year decrease of about…
Mortgage rates remained essentially unchanged over the past week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) reports the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 2.88 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.90 percent. “The slowdown in economic growth around the world has caused a flight to the quality of the U.S. financial markets,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “This has led to a rise in foreign investor purchases of U.S. Treasuries, causing mortgage rates to remain in place, despite the increasing dispersion of inflation across different consumer goods and services.” Khater continued, “On the housing front, homebuyers continue to snap up available inventory, which has improved modestly, and home price growth…
More than 100 economists and real estate experts who participated in Zillow’s Q3 Home Price Expectations Survey say they expect the housing market to remain relatively stable in the coming months. Their predictions are based on the premise that many homeowners have put off listing their homes for fear of having to then buy or rent while prices are high. Improvements in buying conditions may be modest, but the market is cooling, which should put potential sellers at ease. The survey is sponsored by Zillow and conducted quarterly by Pulsenomics. “Across the U.S., home value appreciation rates and annual rent price increases are at historically high levels, and home price expectations are now the highest we’ve recorded in the 12-year…
Mortgage loan application volume rose 4.9% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey reports. Unadjusted, the purchase index increased 16% over last week. Mortgage application volume fell by 1.9%, with purchase applications rising 2%. On an unadjusted basis, purchase applications increased 12% over the week before, 13% lower than the year before. The share of refinance applications rose 7% and was 5% lower year-over-year. The numbers are in line with an upward trend that began last week when loan applications bounced back from a low point. “There was a resurgence in mortgage applications the week after Labor Day, with activity overall at its highest level in over a month, and purchase applications jumping to a high last seen…
