Just under half of all mortgaged residential properties in the U.S. were considered equity-rich in Q1 2022, up to 44.9% from 41.9% in Q4 2021 and 31.9% in Q1 2021, according to a new report from ATTOM. ATTOM’s U.S. Home Equity and Underwater Report shows that only one in 31 homes (3.2%) were considered seriously underwater in Q1 2022, about the same from last quarter but down significantly from 4.7% the year prior. “Homeowners continue to benefit from rising home prices,” said Rick Sharga, Executive Vice President of Market Intelligence for ATTOM. “Record levels of home equity provide financial security for millions of families, and minimize the chance of another housing market crash like the one we saw in 2008.…
Foreclosure activity rose in all 50 states in Q1 2022, with foreclosure starts and bank repossessions reaching their highest numbers in two years, according to ATTOM’s Q1 2022 Foreclosure Market Report. A total of 78,271 U.S. properties had a foreclosure filing during Q1, up 39% from Q4 2021 and 132% YOY. March alone saw 33,333 properties with foreclosure filings, up 29% from February and 181% YOY. It was the 11th straight month of YOY increases in foreclosure activity. “Foreclosure activity has continued to gradually return to normal levels since the expiration of the government’s moratorium, and the CFPB’s enhanced mortgage servicing guidelines,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence for ATTOM. “But even with the large year-over-year increase…
Delinquencies dropped again in January to their lowest rate since at least January 1999 thanks to home price appreciation and the strong jobs market, according to CoreLogic’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report for January 2022. Only 3.3% of all U.S. mortgages were in some stage of delinquency, a 2.3% drop YOY. January marked the tenth straight month of annual declines. Early-stage delinquencies (30 to 59 days past due) accounted for 1.2% of mortgages, down from 1.3% the year prior. Adverse delinquencies (60 to 89 days) were down from 0.5% in January 2021 to 0.3%. Serious delinquencies (90 days, including loans in foreclosure) were down from 3.8% to 1.8%. Serious delinquencies hit a record high of 4.3% in August 2020. CoreLogic…
Good Morning! Today is Thursday, March 31. The US is planning to lift an order that has restricted immigration for the past two years. Officials say Vladimir Putin’s subordinates have misled him about the Russian military’s struggles to avoid angering him. Google’s sister company Waymo is sending fully autonomous vehicles onto the streets of San Francisco. The Mortgage Note Reports Will The Housing Market Boom Or Bust? As the spring selling season begins, people in the mortgage and real estate industries are speculating on whether 2022 will be a year of growth or the start of the end for a red-hot market. Editor Kimberley Haas takes a deep dive into this topic. Flip Profits: Home flipping profits fell across the…
Home flipping profits fell across the country in 2021 despite a surge in the number of houses flipped, according to ATTOM Data Solution’s 2021 U.S. Home Flipping Report. The number of single-family homes and condos flipped in 2021 was 323,465, up from 257,091 in 2020 (+26%). This is the largest number of flips since nearly 334,000 homes were flipped by investors in 2006. In Q4 2021, there were 96,773 homes flipped, a rate of 6.8%. But flips accounted for only 5.5% of all home sales last year, falling in 53% of the markets analyzed by ATTOM. They are down from 5.5% in 2020 and 6.1% in 2019. The Northeast and West saw the biggest declines in number of homes flipped.…
Forbearance plans dropped to a post-pandemic low this week, falling by 49,800 (-6.5%), according to Black Knight’s blog, Vision. Forborne loans held by portfolios and PSLs drove the week with a decline of 20,300 (-8.1%), while FHA/VA loans in forbearance fell by 15,300 (-5.4%). GSE plans fell by 14,300 (-6.1%). Plan volumes are down 42,700 (-5.6%) month-over-month. Some 154,000 plans are up for review in early April, the next time Black Knight expects to see significant improvement. One-third should expire. Overall foreclosure rates were up 11% month-over-month in February and 129% YOY as they return to pre-pandemic levels. Rick Sharga, executive vice president at RealtyTrac, an ATTOM company, said foreclosure activity this year will mimic February’s growth. “This isn’t an…
Good Morning! Today is Thursday, March 10. Democrats cut $15.6 billion in Covid-19 aid from the omnibus spending package. It includes $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine. The Kremlin accused the U.S. of waging an “economic war” as Russia’s currency has lost about 40% of its value in a month. The Mortgage Note Reports Mortgage Fraud: A California man pled guilty to wire fraud related to a foreclosure rescue scheme that took in at least $5 million from thousands of distressed homeowners. Foreclosures In Full-Swing: February foreclosure rates were up 11% from January and 129% YOY as pre-pandemic activity returns And in other mortgage and housing news… Under The Microscope: President Biden ordered a study to assess the risks and…
Overall foreclosure rates were up 11% month-over-month in February as foreclosure starts soared, according to ATTOM’s February 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. A total of 25,8333 properties had foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions). This is a 129% increase from the same time last year. Rick Sharga, executive vice president at RealtyTrac, an ATTOM company, said foreclosure activity this year will mimic February’s growth. “This isn’t an indication of economic turmoil, or of weakness in the housing market; it’s simply the gradual return to normal levels of foreclosure activity after two years of artificially low numbers due to government and industry efforts to protect financially-impacted homeowners from defaulting,” he said. Foreclosures hit their lowest level ever recorded…
Mortgage lending dropped at its fastest pace in almost three years in Q4 2021, down for the third quarter in a row and the largest decrease since late 2018, according to ATTOM’s Q4 2021 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report. The report found that 3.27 million mortgages were originated in Q4 2021, or $1.06 trillion worth of mortgages. This is down 11% from Q3 2021 and 13% from Q4 2020. All three categories of conventional loans– purchase, refi, and home equity– saw quarterly declines, with only purchases remaining up year-over-year (YOY). Refis were down 11% from Q3 2021 and 23% YOY, with 1.81 million home loans refinanced. Q4 was the third straight quarter of refi declines. The dollar volume of…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Monthly asking rates for rentals increased an estimated 15.2% year-over-year in January, and some economists say this is accounting for a significant portion of recent inflation. Redfin is reporting that last month the average asking rent was $1,891, which is the largest annual jump since at least February of 2020. The national median monthly mortgage payment for homebuyers climbed by 25% year-over-year to $1,595. That is also the biggest increase in Redfin’s records. Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather noted that rising mortgage rates are shrinking more Americans out of the for-sale market, which will likely put increasing pressure on rents this year. “Moving right now is expensive, whether you’re renting or buying,” Fairweather said. “One of the only…
