Foreclosures increased nationwide in Q1 2024 as mounting affordability pressures push homeowners into situations where they are unable to pay their mortgages.
According to ATTOM’s latest Foreclosure Market Report, a total of 95,349 U.S. properties had foreclosure filings during the first quarter. This is up 3% from Q4 2023, but down under 1% YOY.
“Q1 2024’s foreclosure data reveals a market in transition, with slight increases in filings and starts, alongside a notable decrease in REO properties,” explained Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM.
“While foreclosures remain relatively stable, we’re closely monitoring these trends. Homeowners continue to hold significant equity, contributing to a persistently hot housing market.”
REOs were up 7% from the previous quarter but plummeted by 20% YOY.
Foreclosure…
Inventory is doing best in cities with fewer mortgages and older homeowners, reinforcing the impact of high interest rates on the market.
That’s according to a new report from Zillow, which found that metros where more homes are owned outright are seeing the fastest growth in new listings.
Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Cleveland have the highest share of homeowners free from rate lock-in.
Generationally, Baby Boomers are the most likely not to be impacted by mortgage rates when deciding to purchase a home. That’s compared to just 6% of Millennial homeowners.
More than 10 million homeowners are mortgage-free and could afford monthly payments if they decided to move today. This demographic skews older and tends to live in more affordable markets,…
While the racial homeownership gap exists in every generation, Black Millennials have it worse off than any other age group.
That’s according to a new analysis from Redfin, which found that just one-third of Black Millennials own their home (33%), compared to 65% of white Millennials, the largest divide of any generation.
By comparison, 52% of Black Gen Xers own their home, compared to 80% of white Gen Xers. Six in ten Black Boomers own their home, while 85% of white Boomers do.
White and Black adult Gen Zers own their homes at rates around 30% and 16%, respectively – not as bad as the Millennial divide, but still significant.
Black Americans face challenges ranging from the impact of racist…
TD Bank has devoted about $20 billion to programs that serve diverse and minority communities, with a large chunk going to support residential lending.
Half of the designated funds are classified for residential lending for low- and moderate-income and/or minority borrowers, according to a press release.
This includes both first-time homebuyer and home equity loans, and particularly targets the Boston, Baltimore, D.C., New York, Miami, and Philadelphia markets.
“At TD Bank, we know our success is tied directly to the people and the communities we serve. When they flourish, we succeed,” said Leo Salom, President and CEO.
“One of our primary objectives as a purpose-driven bank is to help power economic opportunities that help low- and moderate-income, diverse, and underserved…
The generational real estate showdown is still underway, and the latest battleground is large homes.
A new report from Redfin found that Baby Boomers with empty nests own 28% of the nation’s large homes, while Millennials with kids own just 14%.
This a huge turnaround in the last ten years, as a decade ago, younger adults with children were just as likely to own large homes as their parents.
Redfin defined “empty nesters” as households headed by Baby Boomers that report only 1-2 adults living in the home, and based on the number of bedrooms, with three or more being considered large.
Part of the problem is the current state of the housing market. Many Baby Boomers own their homes…
Homebuyers have plenty to be scared of this spooky season, with mortgage rates at two-decade highs and home prices breaking new records, sending affordability to bone-chilling lows.
But current homeowners have their own fears to overcome this Halloween.
Homeowners planning to feed Trick-or-Treaters this year are facing a surge in candy costs thanks to bad weather in China, India and Thailand. The price of sugar and sugar substitutes was up 7.7% YOY in September, while candy and chewing gum saw a 7.5% annual surge. This is well above the 0.2% increase for food overall.
With inflation ravaging wallets this year, 40% of Americans say higher costs will affect how much candy they buy.
Even so, Americans are projected to spend…
Powerbuyer Ribbon, now owned by sale-leaseback platform EasyKnock, is reintroducing its all-cash offer product to Atlanta and Charlotte.
RibbonCash offers temporary financing for cash offers, a powerful model during the housing boom that allowed it to expand to multiple states. But last year brought two rounds of serious staff cuts, with the company retaining only 30 employees by November 2022.
It suspended new RibbonCash financing at that time as well.
EasyKnock purchased Ribbon in May 2023, saying it would speed up the development of its buyer-seller marketplace, slated to launch later this year. The marketplace will connect sellers to both institutional and individual buyers, giving EasyKnock access to another sector of the housing market. It currently caters to existing homeowners.…
Mortgage applications slipped again last week as rates neared 7%, with purchase apps falling to their lowest level since the beginning of June.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey shows the adjusted Market Composite Index – a measure of mortgage loan application volume – decreased by 3%, adding to last week’s 1.18% decline.
Adjusted purchase applications fell by 3%, while the unadjusted index dipped 3% from the week before and 26% lower YOY.
The average interest rate for 30-year fixed loans rose from 6.87% to 6.93%, pushing homeownership farther out of reach for many Americans.
“The decline in purchase activity was driven mainly by weaker conventional purchase application volume, as limited housing inventory and rates still close to 7% are…
Fintech Hometap made two exec-level appointments geared towards leveraging capital markets, the company announced in a press release.
Cara Newman has joined the company as Head of Structured Finance, while Josh Gaffney has been named General Counsel.
Both will report to CEO and co-founder Jeffrey Glass.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Josh Gaffney and Cara Newman to our team,” said Hometap Cofounder and CEO Jeffrey Glass. “Drawing upon their guidance, I am confident that we will deliver even more value to our partners, investors, and stakeholders while always driving positive impact for homeowners and their families across the country.”
Newman comes to the company from Redwood Trust, Inc., a residential mortgage credit company where she served as Managing Director and Head…
Existing-home sales increased slightly in May, just enough to put a positive spin on the otherwise difficult market.
Sales rose by 0.2%, barely moving, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.30 million from 4.28 million the month prior, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors.
Year-over-year, sales are down 20.4%.
The South and West saw improvement month-over-month, but the Northeast and Midwest fared poorly.
“Mortgage rates heavily influence the direction of home sales. Relatively steady rates have led to several consecutive months of consistent home sales,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
The median price for an existing dropped, down 3.1% to $396,100, NAR found. This is just the fourth YOY decline in years. February’s…
