Home.com's Rebound Report for Top 100 Markets

We all know that the overall housing market is recovering well, but which markets are doing the best?

Homes.com has released a "Rebound Report." It is a new housing study that details the recovery in the top 100 U.S. Markets. It provides a deeper analysis of data from their Local Market Index. It shows how far these markets have rebounded from its deepest decline in index value to its current status.

According to the report, nine of the top 100 markets have completely rebounded back to the peak price levels that they were experiencing before the housing crisis. Some of the markets even increased as much as 200 percent of the decline amount!

While every market was hurt during the recession, every one of those markets are now also seeing some kind of recovery. The report really highlights how individual areas are doing. Some are thriving while others are struggling to get back on their feet.

The top 3 thriving metro areas include:
San Antonio, TX  (Rebounded 219.16%)
Houston, TX (Rebounded 210.50%)
Austin, TX (Rebounded 207.11%)

Looks like it is a good year for Texas!

The bottom three metros are:
Providence, RI (Rebounded 5.25%)
New Haven, CT (Rebounded 6.27%)
Las Vegas, NV (Rebounded 9.01%)

Click here if you would like to view the full Homes.com Rebound Report.

Read More

HARP Benefits Underwater Borrowers

Since HARP began in April 2009, more than 2.2 million homeowners have refinanced. In January 2013, there were roughly 97,600 HARP refinances, which shows that HARP continues to be a benefit to underwater borrowers. 25% of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125%. Also, 18% of HARP refinances for underwater borrowers were for shorter-term mortgages such as 15 or 20 years, which would help build equity faster than a traditional 30-year mortgage.

This information comes from the FHFA's January 2013 Refinance Report which suggests a high refinance volume with nearly 470,000 refinances completed in January, including the HARP ones.

Read More

2 Million Homeowners Freed from Negative Equity in 2012

At the end of 2011, the percentage of homeowners with negative equity, or an underwater mortgage, sat at 31.1%.  Q4 of 2012 saw that percentage fall to 27.5%. This means that nearly two million homeowners were freed from negative equity in 2012.

To spell out just how many homeowners those percentages point to, in 2011, 15.7 million people owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth. That number now rests at 13.8 million homeowners as of Q4 2012. On top of those statistics, it is evaluated that those 13.8 million homeowners were collectively underwater by more than $1 trillion.

This information comes from Zillow's Negative Equity Report. They further predict that by Q4 of 2013, the negative equity rate will fall to at least 25.5%. That figure would mean that more than 999,000 additional homeowners nationwide would be freed.  This is all determined by Zillow's method of applying anticipated appreciation or depreciation rates to a home, assuming all other factors remain constant.

"As home values continue to rise and more homeowners are pulled out of negative equity in 2013, the positive effects on the housing market will be numerous. Freed from negative equity, homeowners will have more flexibility, and some will likely choose to list their home for sale, helping to ease inventory constraints and moderating sometimes dramatic, demand-driven price increases in some markets," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. "But negative equity is still very high, and millions of homeowners have a very long way to go to get back above water, even with current robust levels of home value appreciation in most areas. As a result, negative equity will remain a major factor in the market for the foreseeable future."

Read More

80 Metros Show Economic Improvement

According to the National Association of Home Builders and the First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) for August, there have been vast improvements in the housing markets of 80 metropolitan areas. Statistics are taken in these cities across 32 states plus the District of Columbia. The index identifies metropolitan areas that improved in areas such as housing permits, employment, and housing prices for at least six consecutive months. 75 of the metros remained in their respective places on the list from the previous report. There were five new ones that were added and nine that fell from the list because of changes in housing prices. Keep in mind that all of these different metro areas have different characteristics in terms of the condition of their economy and their employment situations. The one thing that most of the markets have in common, though, is the newly enforced strict lending practices that is slightly hindering both builders and buyers. The IMI tracks the markets by measuring employment growth, house price appreciation and housing permit growth. They use the latest available data and measure it on three different occasions to get an accurate overview. In order for a metropolitan area to show improvement, all three of those measurements must improve statistically for at least six months. The index has confirmed that metros are growing increasingly stronger and the economy is stabilizing.

Read More

FHFA's 2012 Foreclosure Prevention Report

Since 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have completed more than 2.3 million foreclosure prevention actions. This includes 1.1 million permanent loan modifications. All of their activities have been detailed in the FHFA's first quarter 2012 Foreclosure Prevention Report. It is known as the Federal Property Manager's Report and we'd like to share that with you. The report shows information about states with the biggest 5-year decline in house prices, as well as the states with the highest number of delinquent loans. Take a look at it for even more statistics and information.

Read More

Obama Adminstration's May Housing Scorecard

The May Housing Scorecard has been released, courtesy of HUD, the Department of the Treasury and the Obama Administration. It is a comprehensive report on the status of the nation's housing market. All indicators point to signs of stability. There's been an overall increase in the sale of existing homes across the nation. The inventory of newly constructed homes has also increased. The only slight hindrance right now comes in the form of delinquencies and underwater mortgages. However, the economy is continuing to recover. More than 180,000 borrowers have taken advantage of the Home Affordable Refinance Program to secure mortgage relief. This has helped foreclosure starts to decline.

The Obama Administration has many programs in place to aid homeowners with the woes of the housing market. So far, these programs have established some critical standards and accountability for mortgage servicers. These have forced the industry to provide struggling homeowners with more effective assistance than ever before. Millions of American homeowners have received relief from these foreclosure programs, and the Administration hopes to continue providing it. It is very important that the nation's housing market crisis can recover.

Read More

Sneak Peak at the April Mortgage Monitor Report

We have a sneak peak of the "April Mortgage Monitor" report from Lender Processing Services, Inc (LPS). The report is scheduled to be released in full at the end of the month, and takes its data from more than 40 million loans. According to our sources, the report states that the total U.S. delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due but not yet in foreclosure) is at 7.12%. That figure is up 0.4% from March but it is down by 10.6% compared to last year. Currently, there are 3,522,000 delinquent mortgages on residential homes, including 1,595,000 that are more than 90 days late.

We reported on the foreclosure pre-sale in the past. Its inventory is now made up of 2,048,000 properties. Combining that with the past-due mortgages gives us a total of 5,570,000 properties that are either delinquent or in foreclosure. The states that have the highest percentages of non-current loans include Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, Illinois and New Jersey.

Read More

News for the Week of Jan 8th: Reports and Auctions

There are four reports that are expected to be released this week that may concern mortgage rates depending on its economic data. Also, two  important treasury auctions will take place.  The Stock Market will be a major contributor early in the week for any movements in bond prices and mortgage rates.

At 2:00 PM ET on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book Report will be released. It will give details of the economic condition throughout the US by region. Since the Fed relies heavily on it during their FOMC meetings, its results can have a fairly big impact on the financial markets and mortgage rates if it reveals any surprises, particularly regarding inflation, unemployment or future hiring.

Wednesday and Thursday bring the treasury auctions featuring the sale of 10-year-notes and 30-year-bonds. The 10-year sale is the more important of the two as it will give us a better indication for demand of mortgage-related securities. If there is a strong demand from investors, we should see the bond market move higher during afternoon trading the days of the auctions. But a lackluster interest from buyers, particularly international investors, would indicate a waning appetite for longer-term U.S. securities and lead to broader bond selling. The selling in bonds would result in upward revisions to mortgage rates.

On Thursday, the most important report of the week is released: December's Retail Sales data. This comes from the Commerce Department. The report measures consumer spending and tracks tracks sales at retail establishments.  Customer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy so this data is watched carefully. A sales increase of 0.4% is expected.  A smaller than expected increase in sales would indicate consumers did not spend as much as thought over the holiday season, helping to prevent rapid economic growth. That would be considered good news for the bond market and mortgage rates.

Read More

Monthly Employment Report from the U.S. Labor Dept.

The U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday that the economy's payroll increased in December 2011. This monthly employment report showed that 200,000 jobs were created, well above the 150,000 that was expected. However, a portion of that number is most likely being attributed to seasonal hiring for the holiday shopping season. 

The Unemployment Rate fell from 8.7% in November to 8.5% in December. The rate has been falling for 4 straight months and is currently at its lowest level since February 2009. Even though the rate has been dropping, this economy still leaves 24.4 million Americans either unemployed or underemployed.  

For more information, take a look at MSNBC's article.

Read More