Tag Archives: Home Prices

The national mortgage delinquency rate edged up during the third quarter of 2011, marking the first increase in nearly two years, according to TransUnion. The credit bureau calculates the delinquency rate as the percentage of borrowers 60 or more days behind on their payments, excluding those that are already in foreclosure. The rate increased to 5.88 percent at the end of September. TransUnion expects the sudden upward movement to be a temporary one, driven by unanticipated financial shocks during the third quarter.

CoreLogic released its latest market analysis of residential property values Monday. The company's index shows U.S. home prices fell another 1.1 percent between August and September. It marks the second consecutive monthly decline recorded by CoreLogic and signals price depreciation is deepening. The company's previous report documented a 0.4 percent drop between July and August. CoreLogic says home prices are adjusting to correct the supply-demand imbalance, and as a result, declines will continue through the winter.

Temperatures are falling, and so are home prices in most local markets. Clear Capital says it's expecting another long winter as the housing industry tries to cope with the downward forces of weak demand, record-low consumer confidence, and distressed inventory. The company says the seasonal gains seen during the stronger spring and summer months have not been enough to push year-over-year home prices into the black. Clear Capital's October index puts national home prices 2.8 percent below a year ago.

Short sales are growing throughout the nation as distressed homeowners and servicers continue to seek alternatives to foreclosure and home buyers increasingly opt for the significant discounts that come with short sales. With 9,145 completed short sales, the Los Angeles area had more short sale transactions than any other metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the second quarter of this year, according to a recent blog post from RealtyTrac. These short sales came with an average discount of 32 percent and at an average price of $350,237.

Long-term, fixed-rate mortgages are often seen as a safe loan product, but one Federal Reserve economist says adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) are not as risky as some perceive them to be and did not play a major role in the recent housing crisis. To those who believe payment shocks caused by ARMs were a major player in the foreclosure crisis, Paul Willen, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, says, the ""data refute that theory."" He says those with ARMs were almost as likely to have seen a payment reduction as a payment increase.

More than 42 percent of prospective home buyers believe home values increase by about 7 percent each year, according to a recent survey by Zillow. This estimation is out of line for the current economic times and high even for years prior to the housing crisis. In a normal market, home values tend to increase by only 2 percent to 5 percent per year, according to Zillow. While home buyers revealed a lack of understanding of home values, respondents answered about 65 percent of questions correctly.

The monthly home price index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has recorded its first decline since March. FHFA reported Tuesday that home prices in the U.S. fell 0.1 percent from July to August, and the previously reported 0.8 percent increase recorded for July was revised to reflect no change. Data released the very same day by Standard & Poor's showed a 0.2 percent increase in the Case-Shiller home price index for the same period. Economists say FHFA's index is ""a better barometer.""

The annual rate of change in home prices continues to show improvement, according to Standard & Poor's. Data released Tuesday by the agency shows the 20-city composite reading of the S&P/Case-Shiller index for August came in below its year-ago level by 3.8 percent. The previous month, S&P reported a 4.1 percent annual decline. The closely watched gauge posted a 0.2 percent increase in August versus July, marking the fifth consecutive monthly gain.

Foreigners may get an added bonus when they invest in residential real estate in the United States - a visa. Senators from New York and Utah are proposing a bill that would offer residence visas to foreigners when they spend at least $500,000 in the U.S. residential real estate market. Investors may split their spending between two or more properties, as long as they spend at least $250,000 on one home and $500,000 or more total. Economists say low prices resulting from high levels of foreclosures in some states have served to entice foreign buyers.

Sales of previously owned homes slipped 3 percent between August and September, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Thursday. That follows a jump of nearly 19 percent between July and August. The decline was widely expected as sales activity follows the typical seasonal cycle and heads lower with the mercury in the thermometer. Distressed homes accounted for 30 percent of sales in September. Eighteen percent were foreclosed homes and 12 percent were pre-foreclosure short sales.