Share Of Forborne Loans Falls To 0.94% Of Servicers’ Portfolios

The number of loans in forbearance fell 11% in April from 1.05% of servicers’ portfolio volume to 0.94%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Loan Monitoring Survey. MBA now estimates that 470,000 homeowners remain in forbearance plans. Of Fannie and Freddie loans, the number in forbearance dropped 6 basis points to 0.43%. Ginnie Mae loans saw an 11 basis point drop to 1.49%, while PLS and portfolio loans saw a 29 point decline to 2.15%. “With the number of borrowers in forbearance decreasing to less than half a million, the pace of monthly forbearance exits reached its lowest level since MBA started tracking exits in June 2020,” said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis. “Servicers are…

Fraud Risk Is Up Due To Challenging Market Conditions

Ten of the 15 metros with the highest fraud risk saw an increase in risk compared to last quarter, CoreLogic reported in its Quarterly Mortgage Fraud Brief. The report analyzes the metros with the highest mortgage fraud risk in order to get a clear picture of trends found in residential mortgage loan applications processed by LoanSafe Fraud Manager. CoreLogic’s National Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index was flat in Q1 2022, falling slightly from 138 in Q4 2021 to 137 this quarter. Year-over-year, the trend is up 15% at 119. The Poughkeepsie metro area topped the list for highest fraud risk, with risk up 16% quarter-over-quarter. It’s followed by the Miami, San Jose, Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Stockton,…

Refi Closing Costs Still Less Than 1% Of Loan Amount In 2021

The national average closing costs in 2021 for a single-family property refinance were up $88 YOY, but still less than 1% of the average refi loan amount, according to CoreLogic’s annual Refinance Closing Cost Report. The average closing cost was $2,375, up 3.8% from 2020’s $2,287. The average refi loan amount was $304,909. By contrast, the national average for purchase closing costs was $3,860. The main difference in closing costs between the two are owner title insurance and inspection fees common for purchase transactions, but less often required for refis. Most third-party fees were still lower for refis. “In 2021, homeowners were still able to get good deals on both interest rates and closing costs,” said Bob Jennings, executive, CoreLogic…

Home Price Growth Sets Yet Another Record In 122nd Month Of Consecutive Increases

Home prices rose by 20.9% YOY in March, setting another record and marking the 122nd consecutive month of YOY home price increases nationally, according to CoreLogic’s Home Price Index (HPI) and HPI Forecast. Home prices were up 3.3% from the month prior. The annual appreciation of detached properties (22%) was 4% higher than that of attached properties (17.3%). But the company predicts that home price growth will moderate to 5.9% by March 2023 due to rising interest rates and low affordability. Late April rates jumped about 30% YOY, a “trend that might derail more prospective buyers.” “The annual growth in the U.S. index was the largest we have measured in the 45-year history of the CoreLogic Home Price Index,” said…

Forbearances Hold Steady At Month-End

In its last weekly report, Black Knight found forbearances largely holding steady in a “typical” pattern for the end of the month. Overall, forbearances rose by 2,300 plans last week. Loans held by portfolios and PSLs increased by 7,300 (+3.5%), though this was tempered by decreases for GSE loans (-1.2%, 2,400) and FHA/VA (-1.1%, 2,700). Plan volume is down 54,700 (-7.3%) month-over-month.  Some 78,000 plans are up for review in early May, the next time Black Knight expects to see significant improvement. One-third should expire.  Overall, U.S. homeowners are in a good position to come out of forbearance strong. In January, delinquencies dropped to their lowest rate since at least January 1999 thanks to home price appreciation and the strong…

Housing Prices Set Another Record In February

Housing prices set a record in February, up 19.4% YOY and 2.1% from January 2022, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) latest House Price Index (HPI). Seasonally adjusted monthly house price changes from January to February ranged from +1.3% in the East North Central division to +2.9% in the South Atlantic division. The 12-month changes ranged from +15.3 percent in the East North Central division to +24.3 percent​ in the Mountain division. “House prices rose to set a new historical record in February,” said Will Doerner, Ph.D., Supervisory Economist in FHFA’s Division of Research and Statistics.  “Acceleration approached twice the monthly rate as seen a year ago. Housing prices continue to rise owing in part to supply constraints.”…

Rents Post Another Double-Digit Gain In February

Rents posted another double-digit gain in February, rising 13.1% YOY, according to CoreLogic’s Single-Family Rent Index. They are now at their highest level in the history of the index. The largest price increases were in warm areas of the country as Americans keep moving to Sun Belt states. Miami saw a spike of 39.5% from February 2021, outpacing the second and third places, Orlando (22.2%) and Phoenix (18.9%). Washington, D.C., and St. Louis had the lowest annual increases, both at 6.5%. Lower-priced rentals (75% or less than the regional median) saw increases of 12.7%, up from 3% in February 2021. Lower-middle priced rentals (75% to 100%) were up 13.8%, from 3.2% the year prior. Higher-middle priced rentals (100%-125%) were up…

Delinquencies Hit Lowest Rate Since January 1999

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…

Warm Weather States Lead Home Price Gains

Stock shortages continue to drive home price appreciation, with February home prices rising 20% YOY and 2.2% from the prior month, according to CoreLogic’s Home Price Index. Annual appreciation of detached properties was 4.8 percentage points higher (21.1%) than attached properties (16.3%). Sun Belt states led the record high price appreciation. Naples, FL, saw the highest YOY price increase at 41.4%, with Cape Coral close behind at 40%. The four metros with the largest annual price gains were all on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Florida saw the strongest growth of all states at 29.1% YOY, followed by Arizona (28.6%) and Nevada (25.8%). CoreLogic says the record growth can be traced to record-low inventory, which forces buyers to compete for a limited…

Share of Young Homebuyers Falls To 10-Year Low

The share of young homebuyers under the age of 30 has dropped below pre-pandemic levels as the affordability crisis prices them out of the market, according to a survey by CoreLogic. Young homebuyers took advantage of historically low-interest rates in 2020, accounting for 22% of homebuyers, a record high for the age group. But the share fell back to pre-pandemic levels in 2021 and further declined at the beginning of 2022.  Controlled for seasonality, the share of young homebuyers in January and February 2022 is at a ten-year low. Markets in the Midwest have a higher portion of young homebuyers than coastal areas. More affordable metros have the highest share as young homebuyers – who typically have lower incomes and…