Morning Roundup (2/4/2022)– Forbearances Drop, Rates Stay The Same

Good Morning! Today is Friday, February 4. Islamic State’s leader died during a nighttime raid by U.S. special forces in northwestern Syria. The US is short on blood due to below-average donations amid Covid-19. The House is set to approve a $350 billion initiative to boost U.S. competitiveness with China and others, but the Senate may fight it. The Mortgage Note Reports Standing Up For Independent Mortgage Bankers In 2022 And Beyond:The executive director of Community Home Lenders Association is working to educate policymakers in Washington, D.C., while articulating the perspective of independent mortgage bankers. Forbearances Drop: Active forbearance plans fell by 45,000 plans (-5%) last week, according to Black Knight’s blog, Vision. More than 90% of homeowners who entered Covid-related forbearance…

Foreclosures Activity Hits Record Low

ATTOM Data Solution’s Year-End 2021 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report found foreclosure filings dropped 29% from 2020 and were down 95% from a peak of nearly 2.9 million in 2010. It is the lowest level since ATTOM began tracking filings in 2005. Properties with foreclosure filings–default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions– made up 0.11% of all U.S. housing units, down from 0.16% in 2020. “The COVID-19 foreclosure tsunami that some people had anticipated is clearly not happening,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president at RealtyTrac, an ATTOM company.  The report is heartening from a broad view of foreclosure filings in the US. However, it found that filings increased as protections expired, pushing rates closer to pre-pandemic levels. A total of…

Housing Affordability Dropped In 77% Of US Counties

America’s home affordability problem was bad in 2020, before COVID-19 hit. In 2021, it got even worse. In Q4 2021, median-priced single-family homes were less affordable in 77% of U.S. counties analyzed by ATTOM Data Solutions, a 13-year high, the company found. In 440 out of the 575 counties analyzed, the gap between incomes and affordable home prices was larger than their historical averages. This is a dramatic increase from Q4 2020 when only 39% of counties were less affordable than in the past. “The average wage earner can still afford the typical home across the United States, but the financial comfort zone continues shrinking as home prices keep soaring and mortgage rates tick upward,” said Todd Teta, chief product…

Latest Trend? Millennials Are Buying Homes With Friends

By KIMBERLEY HAAS As the number of homes purchased by people with different last names increases, it is being reported that Millennials are choosing to buy single-family houses with their friends. In an article written by Zinhle Essamuah for NBC News, three women talked about their decision to buy a house together. Amanda Scheider, 30, told Essamuah that it’s like having a permanent sleepover. Scheider lives with Kathy Keel, 30, and Stephanie Vandergrift, 28, in Gallatin, Tennessee. They signed for a 30-year, $315,000 mortgage in May of 2020 after renting a house together. Essamuah used analytics from Attom Data Solutions which shows the number of homes purchased by people with different last names increased by nearly 772% between 2010 and…