Market Studies

Consumers usually hunt for the best deal -- except when it comes to their mortgages. While 96 percent of American consumers compare prices when shopping, nearly 40 percent obtain just one home loan quote, according to a new survey from LendingTree. The survey also revealed that only 28 percent of borrowers are very confident they received the best possible deal on their current mortgages. Even though 85 percent of consumers use the Web to comparison shop other items, only 21 percent say they shopped online first for mortgage rates.

Moody's rating service and Fitch Ratings both reported increases in defaulted commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) last month, of 24 and 18 basis points, respectively. Both companies show the office sector with the greatest increases in delinquencies across the five core property types in November.

Lender Processing Services (LPS) offered the media a sneak peek at its upcoming November mortgage market report Thursday. Based on the company's assessment, the number of home loans in the United States 30 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure declined slightly. LPS' study will show that 6,925,000 mortgages were past due or already winding their way through the foreclosure pipeline as of the end of November. The previous month, the company's analysts put the figure at 7,043,000.

Borrowing costs on home loans continue to increase, with mortgage rates rising sharply for the past five weeks in a row. New data from Freddie Mac shows that the average rate for a 30-year mortgage jumped 22 basis points over the last seven days to 4.83 percent. The 15-year rate climbed 21 basis points to 4.17 percent. A separate study by Bankrate shows that the average 30-year rate offered by the top 10 banks and thrifts in the top 10 U.S. markets already hit the 5 percent mark this week.

National home prices in October were down 3.93 percent from year-earlier levels, CoreLogic reported Thursday, marking the third month in a row the company's index has recorded an annual drop in residential property values. October's reading follows a 2.43 percent annual decline reported for the month of September and a 1.08 percent drop in August, signaling that the deterioration in home prices is getting progressively steeper with each passing month.

Data from RealtyTrac shows that foreclosure activity last month fell to a level not seen since November 2008, after problems with paperwork prompted case reviews, foreclosure suspensions, and re-filings of affidavits by mortgage servicers. Foreclosure filings nationwide dropped 21 percent from the previous month and 14 percent from a year earlier. For the first time since February 2009, RealtyTrac says the total number of filings for the month dropped below 300,000.

Data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Wednesday shows that consumer demand for mortgages waned last week as interest rates soared to their highest level in nearly seven months. MBA's index of new applications for home purchases plummeted 5.0 percent, breaking a three-week streak of increases, while the refinance index slipped 0.7 percent. MBA says Treasury rates increased last week following news that lower tax rates could be extended for another two years. Mortgage rates also followed higher.

Independent mortgage banks and their subsidiaries made an average profit of $1,423 on each loan they originated in the third quarter, thanks to a surge in refinance activity and growing demand for mortgage-backed securities, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Tuesday. The third quarter's per-loan profit represents a jump of more than 55 percent from the $917 independent mortgage lenders made on each loan in the second quarter of this year.

New data from ForeclosureRadar shows that though there has been no major drop in delinquencies in the West Coast states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, foreclosure starts have fallen to 2008 levels. The company's report deduces that the drop in foreclosures is due to robo-signing issues and the moratoriums that followed the controversy. Notice of default filings in November were down 9.3 percent in California, while notice of sale filings dropped a stunning 31.7 percent in Washington.

The Obama administration's signature foreclosure prevention program will help only 700,000 Americans save their homes, according to a scathing report released Tuesday by the Congressional Oversight Panel. The group's assessment falls far short of the 3 to 4 million homeowners that the president pledged would receive more sustainable mortgage loans when the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was launched in March of last year, and is well below the 8 to 13 million foreclosures expected by 2012.