Market Studies

After heading higher for three straight months, the nation's unemployment rate declined to 9.1 percent in July, down from 9.2 percent in June, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. The economy added 117,000 jobs last month. July's numbers beat analysts' forecasts. Investors are hoping the news will help dispel fears of a double-dip recession and quell some of the sell-off frenzy seen in the stock market yesterday, which led to the largest one-day drop in the Dow since the financial upheaval following Lehman Brothers' collapse.

Data released by Lender Processing Services (LPS) Thursday indicates foreclosure and delinquency numbers are on the rise again. The company says foreclosures were initiated on 217,486 loans in June, up more than 10 percent from May. The national delinquency rate also increased to 8.15 percent. As a supplement to this month's report, LPS examined its historical data and found that nearly half of all loans originated in the U.S. since 2005 would not qualify as a Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) under regulators' current proposal.

Realtors continue to be dissatisfied with short-sale transactions, with 77 percent categorizing short sales as ""difficult"" or ""extremely difficult"" according to the California Association of Realtors' (CAR) member survey. The current assessment shows an increase of 7 percent from the previous survey conducted in December 2010. Respondents cited servicers' slow responses to short-sale offers as a primary reason for their dissatisfaction. CAR says short sales account for a fifth of all transactions in California.

The combination of declines in home prices and in the value of the dollar is making U.S. homes very affordable for some foreign buyers, according to Capital Economics. The 33-percent drop in housing values since the beginning of 2006 translates to an even greater decline when the dollar value is compared with Canadian, Chinese, and European currencies. While international investors likely won't bring recovery to the American housing market in the near-term, the research firm says they may provide a boost to a handful of states.

Freddie Mac released the results of its weekly rate survey Thursday, showing mortgage rates have dropped sharply over the past few days amid falling bond yields and signs of a weaker-than-expected economy. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has declined to its lowest level for 2011, while both the 15-year fixed mortgage and 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) set new historical record lows. Of the four loan types the GSE assesses, only the 1-year ARM failed to post a decline this week.

A study released by Clear Capital Thursday reveals home prices continue to correct from winter's extended declines, edging up on the increase in sales activity that comes with warmer weather. But even recent gains off the record low experienced earlier this year have not been enough to change the broader housing picture, Clear Capital says. Its latest reading of national home prices shows an annual decline of 7.9 percent, with only a handful of markets in the Northeast bucking the trend.

An independent study conducted by Promontory Financial Group concludes that significantly more insured mortgages have survived the housing crisis than loans with ""piggyback"" second mortgages, which has been the most prevalent alternative to the use of mortgage insurance for the past decade. The study examined almost 5.7 million mortgages originated between 2003 and 2007. Compared with insured, low downpayment mortgages, loans with piggyback second mortgages were almost 21 percent more likely to go into default.

Despite a declining share of REO and short sales, and a seasonal increase in non-distressed sales, CoreLogic says home prices in June came in 6.8 percent below June 2010. Even with fewer distressed properties changing hands, short sale and REO transactions are weighing heavy on the overall market numbers. CoreLogic's data show that when distressed sales are excluded from the equation, the year-over-year price decline narrows to 1.1 percent. On a monthly basis, CoreLogic reports that home prices edged up 0.7 percent from May to June.

The commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market had been abuzz with positive momentum and murmurings of recovery for the better part of this year, but Trepp says that has all but vanished within the past few weeks. The research firm reported Tuesday that its latest monthly CMBS delinquency reading surpassed the previous record. In July, the delinquency rate for U.S. commercial real estate loans in CMBS shot up 51 basis points to 9.88 percent, as spreads widened and a highly publicized new issue was pulled from the market.

Consumers' overall satisfaction with primary mortgage servicers has decreased significantly since 2010, according to the results of a study released by J.D. Power and Associates Monday. Overall satisfaction fell from 747 in 2010 to 718 in 2011. J.D. Power and Associates measures customer satisfaction on a 1,000-point scale, taking four areas of servicing into consideration: billing and payment process; escrow account administration, phone contact, and website. A decline was present in all areas.