Market Studies

The Federal Reserve has published a new rendition of its market-gauging Beige Book, which indicates economic activity across the country is expanding at only a modest pace. Residential real estate markets were described as ""weak"" overall, however, a few districts did report slight improvements. Markets in the New York district are seeing an increasing share of foreign buyers paying cash. Florida contacts report a rise in sales activity but a decline in bank-owned homes.

Data released this week by the market research firm Trepp LLC shows that the percentage of loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) paying off on their balloon date came in at just under 40 percent last month. In August, 39.5 percent of the loan balances reaching their maturity date were settled in full. The figure barely budged from 39.6 percent the previous month. Trepp says prior to 2008, payoff percentages were typically well north of 70 percent.

Industry data released Thursday show borrowing costs for home loans falling to new lows, slipping further from what was already reported as the lowest level for mortgage interest rates in more than a half-century. Economists attribute the continuing declines to ongoing employment concerns and economic uncertainty, as well as the debt crisis in Europe pushing investors to the safe haven of U.S. Treasury bonds. Freddie Mac now puts the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage at 4.12 percent and the 15-year rate at 3.33 percent.

Americans continue to harbor a glum outlook for the housing industry and the economy at large. According to Fannie Mae's latest National Housing Survey, August was the third month in a row that more respondents expect housing prices to decrease than increase over the next 12 months. Twenty-seven percent of Americans say prices will likely head lower, while 20 percent hold out hope for appreciation. More than two-thirds say the economic recovery is on the wrong track.

The warm weather homebuying season has kept prices moving up, but Clear Capital says the rate of appreciation is already slowing and weak consumer confidence points to a stormy rest of the year. The company's latest report shows that home prices rose 4 percent over the four-month period ending in August when compared to the previous three months. But Clear Capital notes the recent gains have not been enough to recoup longer-term declines, with national home prices still more than 6 percent below last year's levels.

After the mortgage industry lost more than 2,000 jobs in the first half of 2011, things may pick up later in the year, according to a newly released analysis of mortgage sector employment. During the second quarter of this year, the mortgage industry recorded a net loss of about 500 positions. The loss for the three-month period is less than the previous quarter's net job loss of 1,804. Looking forward, the report predicts a possible increase in hiring as mortgage rates remain at record lows and poor loan performance necessitates more manpower.

After rising in July, CMBS delinquencies picked up their downward trend again in August, decreasing 36 basis points to 9.52 percent. This drop is the third in the past four months, according to analysis released by Trepp LLC, a provider of commercial real estate data. Serious delinquencies also declined for the month and now make up 8.79 percent of commercial mortgage loans. According to Trepp, August's decline was the largest recorded since 2008 when the credit crisis began.

The national unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent as the U.S. economy added no new jobs during the month of August, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. Analysts were expecting some semblance of job growth in the highly anticipated report, although forecasts were all over the map, from as high as 93,000 new jobs to as low as 16,000 and everywhere in between - representative of just how disjointed the economy itself has become in recent months.

Mortgage rates, for the most part, headed lower this week. Data from Freddie Mac shows that the 30-year fixed rate remained unchanged over the past week, while all other loan products in the GSE's survey dropped. The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage set a new all-time record low at 2.96 percent, having fallen for the eighth consecutive week. The 30-year rate held at 4.22 percent, while the 15-year rate slipped to 3.39 percent.

Mortgage servicers completed 56,000 permanent loan modifications through their own proprietary assistance programs during the month of July, according to figures released Wednesday by HOPE NOW. July's tally represents an 11 percent increase over the 50,000 proprietary mods reported in June. At the same time, foreclosure sales fell by 11 percent month-to-month and newly initiated foreclosure actions slipped 5 percent. HOPE NOW also found that the redefault rate for proprietary modifications is 20 percent.