Good Morning! Today is Thursday, January 13. Donald Trump endorsed booster shots and said politicians who hid their vaccination status were “gutless.” Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, said he would not cooperate with the House committee investigating the Capitol riot. More than 8,000 unionized employees at Kroger’s King Soopers stores in Denver went on strike on Wednesday. And in mortgage and housing news… Mortgage Applications Up: Mortgage loan application volume rose 1.4% from last week, though refis once again fell, MBA reported. All-Time Low: ATTOM’s Year-End Foreclosure Market Report found foreclosure filings dropped to an all-time low in 2021, down 95% from a peak of nearly 2.9 million in 2010. Forty-Year High: The BLS’s Consumer Price Index reported that…
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…
Mortgage loan application volume rose 1.4% from last week, though refinances once again fell, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey reported. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 1.4%. The seasonally adjusted purchase index rose 2%, while the unadjusted purchase index rose 51% and was 17% lower YOY. The refinance index fell 0,1% and was down 50% YOY. Refinances made up 64.1% of total applications, their lowest level in more than a month. Conventional refi applications are at their lowest level since January 2020. The survey attributed the drop in refinances to increasing interest rates. The 30-year fixed rate reached 3.52%, its highest level since March 2020, and the Fed signaled this week that…
Good Morning! Today is Wednesday, January 12. In an effort to keep kids in schools, the Biden administration will ship five million free rapid Covid-19 tests to K-12 schools each month. Celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Paul Pierce are being sued for allegedly leading investors into a cryptocurrency “pump and dump” scam. Maya Angelou has become the first Black woman on a quarter. And in mortgage and housing news… Credit Availability Up: Mortgage credit availability rose in December, according to MBA’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index. Zillow CDO: Zillow has hired Jenny Arden as the company’s first Chief Design Officer. Delinquencies Down: Mortgage delinquency fell to 3.8% in October 2021, down 2.3% YOY, according to CoreLogic’s latest Loan…
Mortgage credit availability grew slightly in December 2021, increasing by 0.8% to 125.9, according to the Mortgage Banker Association’s (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI). The Conventional MCAI rose by 0.8%% while the Government MCAI rose by 0.7%. Within the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI rose by 0.6% and the Conforming MCAI rose by 1.1%. A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while an increase indicates loosening credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012. The overall credit index rose to its highest point since May 2021. However, it remains 30% below its pre-pandemic level. The increase puts mortgage credit availability back on a positive trajectory after a November decline that interrupted a four-month…
Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, January 11. The SEC has begun work on a plan requiring companies to routinely disclose information about their finances and operations. Chicago schools will reopen after the teachers’ union and the city struck a deal over Covid safeguards. The Biden administration announced that private insurers will cover the costs of eight at-home Covid tests per person per month. And in mortgage and housing news… Jaws Are Dropping: “The One” hit the market. This megamansion with 21 bedrooms and 42 bathrooms in Bel Air is listed for $295 million. Freddie’s Multi-Family Outlook: Freddie Mac’s annual multifamily outlook suggests another strong year with rent growth in all markets, led by the Sun Belt. Black Knight: Origination activity…
Origination activity fell for the fourth consecutive month in December as higher rates and seasonal slowdown pushed rate locks down, according to Black Knight’s December 2021 Origination Market Monitor. Rate locks fell 18.3% from November to December and 35% year-over-year (YOY), fueled by a 22.5% drop in locks on purchase loans and a 17.1% drop in rate/term refinances. Rate/terms refis hit their lowest point in two years at the end of 2021. Locks on cash-out refis also dropped by 10% from November, though they are up 18% YOY thanks to incredible gains in home equity. The share of refinances rose to 48% due to the decline in purchase locks, though average refi credit scores were down 20 points YOY as…
Freddie Mac’s annual multifamily outlook projects another strong year, with rents continuing to increase despite an overall moderating market. The report projects that the Sun Belt will outperform slow-growing smaller markets in the Northeast and Midwest. “We believe the market will continue to grow in 2022, reflecting the strong multifamily fundamentals that drove the market to a record-breaking year in 2021,” said Steve Guggenmos, vice president of Multifamily Research & Modeling at Freddie Mac. “We anticipate rent growth in all markets in 2022 due to strong demand driven by improving economic conditions.” Growth broke records in 2021 thanks to changing migration patterns and strong economic conditions. Multifamily demand reached its highest ever levels during Q2 and Q3 of 2021, and…
Good Morning! Today is Monday, January 10. A fire in a Bronx apartment building killed at least nineteen people. Russian forces have surrounded Ukraine on three sides as diplomats meet in Geneva for talks. “Power of the Dog” and “Succession” won top honors at the Golden Globes, which did not air this year due to criticism over ethical lapses and a lack of diversity. And in mortgage and housing news… Are UWM Workers Being Unreasonable?: United Wholesale Mortgage turned heads in the industry last week when it was reported that health officials are investigating the company after receiving complaints about how they are handling COVID, which lead some people to ask why employees in lending are expected to be in…
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) fell 0.5 points to 74.2 in December, the GSE reported. Three of the index’s six components fell month-over-month as consumers once again reported pessimistic views on the homebuying market. Year-over-year, the index rose by 0.2.
A record-low 26% of respondents reported they believe it’s a good time to buy a home, while 76% said it’s a good time to sell.
This is a drastic drop from December 2020, when 50% said it was a good time to sell and 52% said it was a good time to buy.
Month-over-month, the share of consumers that reported it’s a bad time to buy a home rose from 64% to 66%, while the net share of…
