Tag Archives: Second Mortgage

While overall national consumer credit default has hit its lowest levels in 10 years, the first mortgage default rate continues to decline, according to the July 2014 S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices released on August 19.

The national default rate declined again from the previous month, according to data through May 2014 released by the S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian for the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. The indices offer a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults.

Data through April 2014 showed a decline in the national default rate from March, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian for the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. The indices are a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults, released monthly. The national composite default rate recorded its lowest post-recession figure of 1.11 percent in April.

Mortgage delinquencies are on the decline, according to a report from Equifax. Home finance write-offs so far this year total $96.3 billion, down 22 percent from last year. The balance of mortgages in severe delinquency--those 90 or more days past due--is less than $300 million for the first time in five years, and Equifax's Amy Crews Cutts says current trends suggest we'll be at pre-recession levels of severe delinquencies by the end of 2014.

Household net worth jumped by $3 trillion in the first quarter as real estate values grew $836 billion, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday in its quarterly Flow of Funds report. With a drop in mortgage debt, owners' equity in real estate increased a sharp 2.5 percentage points to its highest level since 2007. Owners' equity as a percentage of real estate value has been on a steady upward trajectory since dropping to 36.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

Mortgage default rates moved lower along with the overall national default rate in March, according to the Consumer Credit Default Indices released by S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian. The first mortgage default rate fell to 1.41 percent last month from 1.48 percent in February and 1.88 percent from March 2012. The second mortgage default rate was down to 0.69 percent, a monthly and yearly decrease from 0.71 percent and 1.03 percent, respectively.

Home equity installment balances rose 0.3 percent in August--the first monthly increase since November 2007, according to Equifax. After plummeting 49 percent over the past four years to just $143 billion, the company contends August's uptick could signal ""a possible turning point in mortgage demand."" Equifax says amid signs the contraction in mortgage debt is slowing and delinquencies are trending down, it looks like positive growth may finally be taking hold in the mortgage market.

As part of Bank of America's deal in the national mortgage settlement, the bank announced Friday it plans on offering full forgiveness for second liens to certain homeowners. The bank is in the process of mailing about 150,000 letters to pre-qualified homeowners with offers to wipe out their second liens.

Default rates across four categories were down in August, hitting their lowest rates since the end of the 2007/2009 recession, according to data from the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.

An already positive trend in mortgage defaults continued through the month of June, according to data released Tuesday in the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. The data shows that most loan types-including bank card and first and second mortgage loans-saw a decrease in default rates, many of them for the sixth consecutive month. Four loan types posted their lowest rates since the end of the recent recession.