Market Studies

Lenders repossessed 1,050,500 homes last year, according to the 2010 end-of-year foreclosure report from RealtyTrac. The annual figure marks a record-high number of new bank-owned properties tracked by the company. The 2010 tally is up 14 percent from the previous year, when banks seized 918,376 homes. While the number of homes taken back by lenders jumped by more than 130,000 from 2009 to 2010, RealtyTrac's data show the number of default filings declined by 20 percent over the same period.

The Federal Reserve published its latest edition of the popular Beige Book Wednesday. Based on information received from contacts in the field, the central bank says economic activity across the country ""continued to expand moderately"" during the last part of 2010 with steady improvements seen in labor markets. However, the real estate sector, and residential housing in particular, continues to be a significant hurdle for the economic recovery, with local housing markets characterized as ""sluggish.""

According to RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI), a source of real estate data, analytics, and business intelligence for real estate professionals in the Mid-Atlantic, the Baltimore housing market continued to look bleak in December. Based on figures from RBI's newly launched pending home sales index, the average price of homes sold in the Baltimore area dropped 6.6 percent, from $283,269 at the end of 2009 to $264,500 by the end of 2010. At the same time, active listing inventory grew by 10 percent.

A recent report examining the role of private mortgage insurance reveals the instrument serves a vital role in helping to establish stability within the housing market. The study, conducted by Promontory Financial Group, provides a review of how private mortgage insurance policies protect mortgage lenders and investors against the risk of defaulted mortgages by taking on a part of that risk, and how they make private capital more readily available to a broader range of potential borrowers.

The number of mortgage applications filed by consumers rose last week as interest rates eased and more homeowners moved to refinance their home loans. According to data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Wednesday, total mortgage loan application volume increased 2.2 percent for the week ending January 7, 2011, when compared to the previous week. It marked the second week in a row that application volume has climbed as MBA's index hit its highest level in nearly a month.

CoreLogic released its November home price index Tuesday, which shows that home prices in the United States declined for the fourth month in a row. The company reported that national home prices, including distressed sales, fell by 5.07 percent in November 2010 when compared to November 2009. The rate of decline increased significantly in November, and CoreLogic says it's indicative of the uphill battle to achieve a housing recovery.

The first week of January typically marks the seasonal low point for home sales, new listings, and closings, as weather and holiday celebrations keep buyers and sellers from the market, and this year is no different, according to Altos Research. The company says both home prices and inventory are down for the lion's share of the nation's regional markets. The analysts at Altos expect home prices to hit a new trough in 2011, falling another 5 to 10 percent over the next 12 months.

Fewer mortgage-related firms closed their doors during 2010 than in 2009, according to newly released industry data. Including mortgage companies, retail and wholesale credit unions, and federally insured banks, the report tracked 201 mortgage-related business operations that either failed or were shut down during 2010. The casualty list was smaller than 2009's count, which stood at 230 mortgage-related fatalities - the most since 1998, when the report was first issued.

State-chartered banks and credit unions in Maine saw an overall decrease in home foreclosure activity during the third quarter of 2010, according to data released this week by the state's Bureau of Financial Institutions. Both new delinquencies and foreclosure starts dropped, which could mean future foreclosures are also on the wane. However, seriously delinquent first mortgages increased during the same period.

The unemployment rate in the United States slipped to 9.4 percent in December, as employers added 103,000 jobs to their payrolls, according to figures released by the Department of Labor Friday. That's down from a rate of 9.8 percent in November and a rate of 9.6 percent in each of the three months prior. Experts agree that job growth is vital to any meaningful improvement in the housing and mortgage markets. Any decline in the rate is certainly considered a win, although the December figures came in significantly lower than analysts were expecting.