Market Studies

With much focus in the industry on the single-family mortgage market and the challenges it currently faces, the Mortgage Bankers Association created a task force to address policy concerns in the multifamily market. With more than one in seven households residing in multifamily rental housing, the MBA task force says ""ensuring a vibrant and stable multifamily finance system is equally important to the public dialogue."" The MBA task force outlined a five-point plan for the GSEs.

Foreclosure starts fell even further in October after a steep drop in September, according to data from Lender Processing Services (LPS). In October, foreclosure starts numbered about 124,000, which represents a 22 percent decline from September to October and a 48 percent decrease from October 2011. LPS explained the plunge in foreclosure starts was likely driven by new borrower notification requirements outlined in the national mortgage settlement. However, LPS believes the influence of the national mortgage settlement will not have a lasting effect.

Despite reports of improvements in home prices and sales, Radar Logic argued that upon closer examination, the housing market is not doing as well as assumed. As of September 25, 2012, Radar Logic's RPX composite price increased 5.2 percent year-over-year across 25 metro areas, according to the company's monthly housing report. However, the increase in prices tracked by Radar Logic is not a result of ""significant appreciation in household-owned homes,"" the report stated. Instead, it is due to a decline in ""motivated sales,"" or sales of foreclosed homes and REOs.

FDIC-insured banks continued to show improving health in the year's third quarter, the agency reported Tuesday. Commercial banks and savings institution insured by FDIC reported aggregate net income of $37.6 billion in Q3, up from a reported $35.2 billion in Q3 2011. Meanwhile, negative indicators continued to fall. The number of banks on FDIC's ""Problem List"" declined for the sixth straight quarter, dropping from 732 to 694. The third quarter also marked the first time in three years that there have been fewer than 700 banks on the list.

National gains for rentals still grew faster than asking prices for homes in November, but in certain metros, the trend was reversed, Trulia reported Tuesday. According to data from Trulia, rent prices in November increased by 5.6 percent year-over-year, while asking prices for homes were up 3.8 percent, representing the biggest increase so far this year. Even though rents stayed ahead with bigger improvements, asking prices in 14 of the 25 largest rental markets managed to post greater increases compared to rents, the data provider revealed.

Compared to 2011, home prices continued to show strong gains in October and posted their biggest yearly increase since June 2006, according to data from CoreLogic. Home prices--including distressed sale--climbed 6.3 percent higher year-over-year in October, marking the eighth consecutive month of yearly gains. With the conclusion of the home-buying season, home prices dropped by 0.2 percent from September to October. According to the data provider's pending home price index, prices should further increase yearly by 7.1 percent in November.

Clear Capital released a new market report Tuesday, tracking home prices through the end of November. Nationally, quarterly price gains were cut by more than half compared to readings from the month before. For November, home prices edged up just 1 percent. Even with fewer fair market sellers listing their homes, Clear Capital says REO sales held steady at 18.4 percent of total sales--a level that will put minimial pressure on home prices should it hold through the winter months.

There were 58,000 foreclosures completed in the United States during the month of October, CoreLogic reported Monday with the release of its latest National Foreclosure Report. October's tally was down 17 percent from last year when 70,000 foreclosures were completed during the month. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures fell 25 percent after September's count was revised upward from the previously reported 57,000 to 77,000. CoreLogic says the larger-than-usual revision was due to an annual online auction of delinquent tax properties in Wayne County, Michigan, that weren't included in the earlier assessment.

Despite a number of potentially damaging headwinds, the ongoing housing recovery will remain sustainable for the foreseeable future, analysts for Capital Economics say in a recently released report. The housing industry's rapid rebound took many experts by surprise--even the researchers who authored the report admit they ""have been slightly taken aback"" by the recovery's speed. However, they point to several major indicators that show the current upturn is more than a temporary blip or a false recovery.

Consumer spending fell $20.2 billion in October as personal income remained relatively flat, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Friday. The October report marked the first time since June in which income growth--however modest--exceeded spending. Still, income growth was the weakest it has been since last November, when it fell $31.1 billion in one month--a decline that was completely reversed one month later.