Market Studies

The number of foreclosures in Massachusetts declined by double-digit percentages in May compared to last year and the prior month, according to the latest report from the Boston-based real estate research company The Warren Group.

Mortgage interest rates across the board dropped back down this week, following three straight weeks of increases for long-term, fixed-rate home loan products. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s VP and chief economist, explained that the upward trend was reversed by reports of low, benign inflation figures.

A recent study conducted by a national real estate company and American Home Shield, a home warranty company based in Memphis, Tennessee, found that homes offered with warranty protection sold an average of 23 days faster than homes with no warranty coverage.

According to the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), the impact of the foreclosure crisis not only has devastating consequences for the displaced households, but in its wake, the spillover effect is eating away at the value of nearby homes by startling sums.

Despite the fact that lenders in California are voluntarily postponing the majority of foreclosure sales – 73 percent, to be exact – ForeclosureRadar says its market data reveals a steady increase in the number of foreclosed homes in the state sold at auction.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey on Wednesday, which showed that home loan applications dropped to their lowest level since last November, as rising mortgage interest rates have led to an increase in borrowing costs.

Federal regulators completed unprecedented stress tests of the largest banks’ balance sheets last month, and found that 10 of the 19 institutions screened had enough capital on hand to not only sustain lending in the current environment, but could continue lending even if economic conditions worsen.

Denver, Colorado-based Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS) says its latest study on home prices indicates some return to normalcy in markets that have been hit hardest by the housing downturn. The company’s IAS360 House Price Index for April reflects the first non-declining numbers in 10 months.

Foreclosure filings fell six percent during the month of May, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released by RealtyTrac on Thursday. Despite the monthly decline, the nation’s foreclosure numbers are nearly 18 percent higher than they were in May 2008.

Long-term mortgage interest rates have climbed to their highest levels since late last year, casting a dark cloud on any early signs of a housing recovery and stalling the recent wave of refinances many struggling homeowners employed to get out from under unsustainable mortgages.