Market Studies

According to the latest Residential Price Index report from FNC, home prices are still on the way up, just not at the pace they used to be. FNC found that despite continued signs of leveling off in home price appreciation, U.S. home prices were up another 0.8 percent from May to June and 2.3 percent throughout the second quarter.

In Florida, the median price of homes is increasing and sales of single-family homes have gone up, Florida Realtors reported in its Q2 2014 report released on August 12. However, RealtyTrac's July 2014 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released on August 14 found that Florida had the highest state foreclosure rate in the nation for the 10th consecutive month despite a 30 percent year-over-year decrease.

Foreclosure activity on U.S. housing units showed a 2 percent increase in July from the previous month but was still down 16 percent from the same month last year, according to RealtyTrac's July 2014 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released on August 14.

After half a year of failed predictions and slow starts, the U.S. economy actually appears to be closing in on normal, at least according to Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac's latest Economic and Housing Market Outlook shows that the agency expects to see the U.S. housing market driven once again by fundamentals—jobs, household formations, and affordability—rather than economic upheaval.

One of the enduring legacies of the mortgage crisis is the lack of standardization in the residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market, particularly as they relate to warranties and repurchase enforcement mechanisms.

The number of housing markets that have returned to their last normal levels of economic activity remained flat in August, marking a stall as the recovery comes down to a slower pace.

A recently released study by TransUnion reported that approximately $50 billion to $79 billion in outstanding Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC) balances reported at the end of 2013 could be a high risk to default in the next few years.

Walter Investment Management Corp., a Tampa, Florida-based services business that offers solutions to owners of subprime and other asset-light mortgage platforms, announced in its quarterly financial report released on August 11 that the company experienced a GAAP net loss of $12.9 million for Q2 2014.

While the national negative equity rate continues to fall (down to 18.8 percent, according to the Zillow Q1 2014 Negative Equity Report), many neighborhoods in the Tampa Bay area of Florida are well above that rate. Some areas in Tampa Bay even fall within the highest rates in the country.

A slower than anticipated first half has killed off any enthusiasm economists had for housing at the start of 2014.