Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Mortgage Loan Performance Worsens in Second Quarter

September 30, 2011 (Brian Michael)

Mortgage loan performance by the nation’s largest banks and federal savings associations declined in the second quarter of 2011 as mortgage delinquencies increased slightly for the first time in six quarters according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Of the 32.7 million loans in the OCC’s portfolio, 88.0 percent are current and performing at the end of the quarter, down from 88.6 in the first quarter.

Mortgages that were 30-59 days delinquent increased from 2.6 percent in the first quarter to 3.0 percent in the second quarter.

Mortgages that were 60 days or more past due and delinquent loans to bankrupt borrowers increased from 4.8 percent in the first quarter to 4.9 percent in the second quarter.

Mortgage servicers implemented 456,397 home retention actions in the second quarter, down from 557,451 in the first quarter. The number of home retention actions was 18.1 percent lower than the previous quarter.

Modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) increased by 31.6 percent in the second quarter compared to the first quarter, but other home retention actions declined.

The number of mortgages entering foreclosure declined 8.0 percent from the previous quarter to 287,145 properties. Completed foreclosures increased by 1.2 percent in the second quarter to 121,202, but were down 30.7 percent from the second quarter in 2010.

Payment modifications through the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) continued to provide larger relief as the average principal and interest reduction under a HAMP modification was $577 compared to $393 for all modifications.

From the beginning of the government’s loan modifications efforts in 2008 until the end of the first quarter of 2011, mortgage servicers have modified 2,083,464 mortgages. Unfortunately, as time has gone by, the performance of those loan modifications continues to worsen.

At the end of the second quarter, only 51.3 percent of modified loans remained current or have been paid off, down from 52.5 percent in the first quarter. Another 9.2 percent were 30 to 59 days delinquent, up from 8.2 percent in the first quarter, and another 18.2 percent were 60 days or more delinquent, down from 18.5 percent in the second quarter.

More than 10 percent were in the process of foreclosure, and 5.3 percent had completed the foreclosure process, up from 4.5 percent in the first quarter.

Loans that were modified by 10 percent or more performed better than those that were modified less than 10 percent. Of the loans that were modified which resulted in a payment reduction of over 10 percent, 59.9 percent were current and performing, down from 61.6 percent in the first quarter.

Of the loans that were modified which resulted in the payment being reduced by less than 10 percent, only 37.0 percent remained current and performing, down from 37.1 percent in the first quarter.

Tags: OCC, mortgage loan performance, delinquent mortgages, mortgage servicers, foreclosures, loan modifications, HAMP

Source:
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
LoanRateUpdate.com

Las Vegas August Home Sales Highest in Five Years

Monthly sales of new and resale homes in Las Vegas were at their highest levels in five years in August according to the latest data released from DataQuick as buyers looked to take advantage of the lowest interest rates in 50 years and the lowest housing prices in 16 years.

A total of 5,412 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area in August. Sales were 19.3 percent higher than the 4,535 homes sold in July and were 26.4 percent higher than August of 2010. Home sales in the region typically rise 6.3 percent between July and August.

Home sales were at their highest level for an August in five years and were 5.3 percent higher than the average number homes sold in August since 1994.

Last month's sales benefitted from August having three more selling days than July. When compared on a daily basis, home sales rose 3.8 percent from July to August. The large difference in home sales from a year ago is a result of the sharp drop in the number of homes sold following the expiration of the home buyer’s tax credit last year.

Cash buyers were responsible for 52.3 percent of the purchases in August, which was down from 53.0 percent in July and up from 48.8 percent a year earlier. The record for cash purchases was in February 2011, when 56.7 percent of the sales were for cash.

The price that cash buyers paid for a home in August declined to $84,000 from $85,243 in July and down from $100,000 in August 2010.

Absentee buyers, usually investors and vacation home buyers, accounted for 47.1 percent of all homes sold in August, down from 46.5 percent in July. The prices they paid were less than previous month with the median price paid in August being $92,000, down from $93,050 in July and down from $110,000 in August of 2010.

The overall median price paid for new and resale homes and condos in August was $112,500, down 2.2 percent from $115,000 in July and down from $130,000 in August of last year. Cash buyers and investors accounted for 42.9 percent of the sales for homes sold under $100,000 and 69 percent of all home sales under $150,000.

The current median price is at its lowest level since January 1995 when the median home price was $112,000, and is 63.9 percent below the peak median price of $312,000 in November 2006.

Distressed property sales represented 70.0 percent of the resale market in August as foreclosure re-sales accounted for 57.2 percent of the distressed sales and short sales accounted for 12.8 percent of the distressed sales.

Foreclosures continued to decline in August with lenders foreclosing on 2,477 single-family homes and condos, down from 3,161 foreclosures in July, but that may change in the future as the number of default filings surged upward nearly 58 percent in August to 5,354. The highest number of loans foreclosed by lenders was in May 2011 when lenders foreclosed on 3,818 loans.

Tags: DataQuick, existing home sales, Las Vegas, distressed properties, resale homes, condos, cash buyers, investors, median price

Source:
DataQuick

LoanRateUpdate.com

Pending Home Sales Decline in August

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) declined by 1.2 percent to 88.6 in August according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This was the second consecutive monthly decline for the PHSI, but is still higher than August of last year.

Last year the Index was 7.7 percent lower at 82.3, however, the Index in August of last year was still feeling the affects of the lull in housing activity due to the end of the home buyer’s tax credit.

All regions but the South showed a decline in their monthly level of sales contract activity.

Pending home sales increased in the South by 2.6 percent to 96.9 and was 7.6 percent higher than a year ago, while in the West, pending home sales fell 2.4 percent to 108.1, but were 10.5 percent higher than in August of 2010.

In the Northeast, the PHSI slipped 5.8 percent to 63.6 in August, but was still 1.3 percent higher than August 2010, and in the Midwest, the index fell 3.7 percent to 76.2, but is 8.2 percent above a year ago.

The PHSI is a forward looking indicator which generally indicates closings one to two months in the future. But that isn’t always true.

In July, the PHSI was down 1.3 percent, much of which would be reflected in August’s Existing Home Sales report, but home sales in August jumped up 7.7 percent which was likely due to borrowers rushing to beat the new lower loan limits that take effect on October 1st, of which some lenders began adopting even back in August (see here).

Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR, once again stressed that tight credit was one of the primary reason for an underperforming housing market.

“We continue to experience a pattern in which financially qualified home buyers, willing to stay well within their means, are being denied credit – a factor in elevated levels of contract failures,” he said. “Based on the improving fundamentals of population growth, some job additions, rent increases and higher stock market wealth, we should be seeing existing-home sales closer to 5.5 million, but are expecting just over 4.9 million this year. The unnecessarily restrictive mortgage underwriting standards are attenuating the housing recovery and are a risk factor for the overall economy.” Yun stated.

Tags: NAR, pending home sales, existing home sales, tight credit, economic uncertainty, housing recovery

Source:
NAR
LoanRateUpdate.com

Monthly Loan Mods Unchanged, Foreclosure Starts Jump 18 Percent

The number of proprietary loan modifications remained virtually the same from July to August according to HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors. Meanwhile, foreclosure starts jumped up almost 18 percent from the previous month.

The organization reports that 55,828 homeowners received permanent, proprietary loan modifications in August compared to 55,687 in July. Almost 4.86 million proprietary loan modifications and Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) loan modifications have been completed since 2007.

Through the end of July, 4.06 million proprietary loan modifications have been completed while 791,399 loan modifications have been completed under HAMP.

Of the proprietary loan modifications completed, 83 percent (46,314) included reduced monthly principal and interest payments, with 68 percent (37,730) receiving a reduction of more than 10 percent. In addition, 83 percent (46,608) received fixed interest rate loans of five years or more.

Total proprietary modifications and HAMP modifications for August were about 82,000, likely falling below the 84,015 total loan modifications in July. Freddie Mac reported 8,639 HAMP modifications in August while Fannie Mae has yet to report their August totals, but through July has been averaging about 17,000 HAMP loan modifications per month.

Monthly foreclosure starts jumped up in August with 217,955 starts recorded, compared to 185,076 in July, an increase of 17.7 percent. Completed foreclosure sales also increased from 64,578 in July to 67,663 in August, a gain of 4.8 percent.

Mortgage delinquencies that are at least 60 days past due decreased from 2.810 million properties in July to 2.796 million in August.

Faith Schwartz, Executive Director of HOPE NOW, stated, “We understand that unemployment, medical hardships and other financial issues have deeply affected the nation’s homeowners, said Schwartz. “Many people have fallen behind on their mortgage payments. But it is important to continue to convey the message that mortgage servicers are working tirelessly with their customers. Whether it is through localized outreach events or regional bricks and mortar centers, there are opportunities for homeowners to get one on one mortgage assistance.”

Tags: HOPE NOW, private sector alliance, mortgage servicers, loan modifications, fixed rate mortgages, delinquencies, proprietary modifications, foreclosure starts, foreclosure sales

Source:
HOPE NOW

LoanRateUpdate.com

July’s Home Price Gains Follow Seasonal Trends

July’s home prices continued to follow normal seasonal trends with prices for both the 10- and 20-City Composites increasing by 0.9 percent from June to July, the fourth consecutive month of increases according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

Seventeen of the 20 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) posted monthly price increases while only two of the MSAs posted yearly increases.

“With July’s data we are seeing not only anticipated monthly increases, but some fairly broad improvement in the annual rates of change in home prices,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. “This is still a seasonal period of stronger demand for houses, so monthly price increases are expected and were seen in 17 of the 20 cities."

The only three MSAs that didn’t post a monthly increase in July were Las Vegas, which was down 0.2 percent, Phoenix which posted a decline of 0.1 percent and Denver which remained unchanged from the previous month.

The only two MSAs that posted a yearly increase were Detroit, which posted a gain of 1.2 percent, and Washington, where prices were 0.3 percent higher.

Fourteen of the 20 MSAs posted improved yearly rates of change with Minneapolis continuing to be the worse performing market with a price decline of 9.1 percent, but still an improvement after three consecutive months of double-digit declines.

Average home prices across the United States have fallen back to the levels where they were in the summer of 2003. From their peak in June/July 2006, prices for the 10-City Composite have declined 31.0 percent, while prices for the 20 City Composite have fallen 30.9 percent.

“While we have now seen four consecutive months of generally increasing prices, we do know that we are still far from a sustained recovery,” Blitzer added. “Other recent housing statistics show that single-family housing starts were down slightly in August, and are about 2% below their year ago level; and these levels are at 30-year lows. Existing-home sales, however, were up in August and are about 20% above their August 2010 level. The S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default indices showed a continuing decline in mortgage default rates, a two-year trend. However, if you look at the state of the overall economy and, in particular, the recent large decline in consumer confidence, these combined statistics continue to indicate that the housing market is still bottoming and has not turned around.”

Tags: S&P, Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, 10-City Composite, 20-City Composite, home prices, positive gains, seasonal trends

Source:
S&P

FHFA: August Mortgage Interest Rates Decline Slightly

The average interest rates for conventional 30-year fixed rate mortgages declined from 4.69 percent in July to 4.63 percent in August according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Monthly Interest Rate Survey

The results of the survey reflect loans closed during the August 25-31 period from 35 lenders and data from 4,987 mortgage loans. Since mortgage loans typically take 30-45 to close, the reported rates reflect market conditions in mid to late July.

The average interest rate of all mortgage loans, fixed and adjustable-rate, was 4.52 percent in August, down from 4.55 percent in July.

The effective mortgage interest rate, including initial fees and charges, was 4.65 percent in August, down from 4.67 percent in July.

Thirty percent of all purchase-money mortgage loans were no-point loans, consistent with the levels seen over the past five months.

Initial fees and charges averaged 0.90 percent of the loan balance in August, up from 0.85 percent in July.

The average loan amount increased in August to $214,300 from $213,800 in July, with the average loan-to-price ratio increasing from 77.2 percent in July to 76.3 percent in August.

The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Home by Combined Lenders, used to index some ARM contracts, decreased from 4.57 percent in July to 4.56 percent in August.

Tags: FHFA, mortgage interest rates, purchase money mortgages, initial fees and charges, points, mortgage loan, ARM, no-points mortgage

Source:
FHFA

More Americans See Home Prices Declining Over the Next Year

American’s confidence in the future value of their homes continues to sink as a record high 40 percent expect their homes to be worth less in a year from now according to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll.

Since April 2009, that number has ranged from 19 to 37 percent making this latest survey the highest level of pessimism to date. Last month, 35 percent of the homeowners surveyed felt the same way.

Thirteen percent of the Americans surveyed believed their home values would increase in the next year, the same as last month. Forty-five percent believed their homes would be worth about the same amount over the next 12 months, which was down from 48 percent last month.

Homeowners also grew pessimistic over the long term values of their homes after two months of increasing optimism. Asked if they thought their home’s value would be higher in five years, 36 percent believed that their home's value would be higher. That was down from 40 percent in last month’s poll and only one point above the lowest survey posted in the last two years.

By comparison, in 2008 after the Wall Street financial meltdown, 59 percent believed their home would be worth more in five years and throughout 2010 between 41 percent and 55 percent of homeowners believed their homes would be worth more in five years.

Thirty percent of the homeowners believed their home’s value would be the same in five years, down from 32 percent in last months poll, while 24 percent expected their homes to be worth less over the next five years, up from 20 percent last month

For the fourth consecutive month, less than half of the American adults surveyed believed that buying a home was the best possible investment for a family. Only 48 percent of American adults believed that buying a home was the best possible investment, up from July’s all-time low of 43 percent.

Twenty-nine percent did not think that buying a home was a good investment, down from last month’s 36 percent and 23 percent were undecided.

Seventy percent of the adults polled believed that now is not a good time to sell a home in their area while 12 percent thought it was. Nineteen percent weren’t sure.

Tags: Rasmussen Reports, homeowner’s confidence, home values, increased value, worth less, pessimism

Source:
Rasmussen Reports