New home construction in the St Louis area is off to a good start for 2018 with a total of 326 building permits for new homes being issued during January for the 7-county St Louis area reported on by the Home Builders Association of Eastern Missouri. This permit activity in January represents an 11% increase over the activity in January 2017 when there were 293 new home permits issued. During the month of January 2018, 4 of 7 counties saw an increase in building permits from January 2017 (Jefferson County +26%, Franklin County +143%, Warren County +1%, St Louis City Continue Reading →
The percentage of homeowners with a mortgage in the St Louis MSA that were seriously underwater in the last quarter of 2017 was 13.8%, about half the rate from 4 years earlier, according to data just released by ATTOM Data Solutions. For this report, a homeowner is considered “seriously underwater” when the total of their home mortgage(s) is equal to, or greater than, 125% of their home’s current value.
Also shown on the table below is the percentage of equity-rich homewners in the St Louis MSA. An “equity-rich” homeowner is at the other end of the spectrum from an underwater Continue Reading →
There is little doubt that lower-income individuals and, subsequently, lower-income neighborhoods, were impacted more negatively by the housing market bubble burst in 2008 than other areas. This resulted in extremely high mortgage delinquency rates, high foreclosure rates, and declining home values. Afterward, citing “loose” lending standards, sub-prime mortgages, etc, the mortgage market tightened the reins on mortgage lending making it more difficult for everyone to get a loan, but particularly, those folks in the lower income brackets.
As time has passed, home loan requirements have eased and it is now easier to obtain a home loan. Some of the requirements Continue Reading →
Over the past couple of years, as the St Louis real estate market has continued performing well, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures have continued to decline. Rising home value has also caused the number of “underwater” homeowners, also known as homeowners in a negative-equity position (meaning their mortgage balance exceeds their homes current value) to decline as well. As the table below shows, 5 of the seven St Louis area counties listed saw a decline in the number of underwater properties in the 3rd quarter of this year from a year ago. The largest decline in underwater properties was St Charles Continue Reading →
As of the end of September, in the city of St Louis, 7,265 of the 104,288 residential properties in the city were vacant, giving the city a vacant property rate of 6.97 percent, the 2nd highest of all the counties in the U.S., according to a newly released report by ATTOM Data Solutions. The number of vacant properties in the city of St Louis increased 4.4% from the same time last year. Baltimore Maryland had the highest vacant property rate at 8.14 percent.
As the table below shows, St Clair County, Illinois was the next St Louis area county on Continue Reading →
On a national level, according to a report released by Corelogic, the foreclosure rate is at a 10-year low and, for the most part, mortgage delinquency rates continue to fall as real estate markets around the country continue to improve.
The state of Missouri, as well as it’s two big metro areas, St Louis and Kansas City, are following suit with improvements in mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates.
State of Missouri- Mortgage Delinquency/Foreclosure Rates: 30+ day mortgage delinquency rate improved from 5.3% of all mortgage loans a year ago to 4.5% for July 2017; 90+ day mortgage delinquency rate improved Continue Reading →
CoreLogic just released it’s 2017 Mortgage Fraud Report in which Missouri made the list of the five states with the highest year-over-year risk growth for mortgage fraud. The two types of fraud Missouri made the list on were Transaction fraud risk and Undisclosed Real Estate Debt fraud risk.
Below are some national highlights from the report (all figures are based upon 2nd quarter 2017 compared with 2nd quarter 2016):
Occupancy Fraud Risk increased nationally 7% Transaction Fraud Risk increased 3.9% Income Fraud Risk increased 3.5% Property Fraud Risk decreased 1.9% Undisclosed Real Estate Debt Fraud Risk decreased 2.7% Identity Fraud Continue Reading →
In the St Louis area during the 2nd quarter of this year, there were 30,407 (5.4 percent of all residential properties) with negative equity, or underwater, according to a report just released by Corelogic. This is a decline of nearly 20 percent (19.89%) from a year ago when there were 37,581 St Louis homeowners in a negative equity position.
In addition to the homeowners that are underwater, or in a negative equity position, during the 2nd quarter of 2017 there were 9.660 homeowners, or another 1.7 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, that were in a “near-negative” equity Continue Reading →
Home buyers for sale! Buy one get one free!
Ok, it’s not quite like that but, if you are a home buyer, odds are you have been bought and sold whether you know it or not! Does this sound surprising to you? I’m guessing it probably does as I don’t think most home buyers realize that, just like the homes they are shopping for, there is a market for home buyers (and sellers, of course) as well. I’m talking about “real estate leads”.
How home buyers are bought and sold…
Before I go further, or, especially if you are a Continue Reading →
The St Louis real estate market typically hits its peak during the spring months then continues strong into summer. Come August, the housing market in St Louis tends to slow as families squeeze in vacations and school begins. After Labor Day we normally see an increase in activity until the market goes into something reminiscent of hibernation for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
Even though Labor Day is just a few days away, home sales that closed within the past 30 days show that homes are still selling quickly in St Louis. Below is our list of the 10 Continue Reading →
Unfortunately today, when we see a headline such as the one in this article, we almost immediately think something bad…its’ hard not too. Considering everything we witness in life and see in the media day in and day out, it’s become normal to think “what have they done?..what are you going to tell me that is bad about them? What’s the dirt?”.
Well, I’m happy to say, I don’t have anything bad to say, I don’t have any dirt on them nor scandalous information but, please don’t stop reading because of that.:)
In fact I’m going to praise Continue Reading →
The housing bubble that led to the housing bubble burst in 2008 started a decline in the value of homes, including those in St Louis, for the following 3 to 4 years. This resulted in much larger number of homeowners facing financial struggles including late payments, foreclosures, short sales, bankruptcy and the like, than was the historic norm. As a result, while maybe not a new concept but certainly one that had been more obscure in the past, credit repair, became a lucrative and growing business as consumers sought to repair the damage done and position themselves to buy a home. Continue Reading →
According to a report just released by Corelogic, the 30-59 day mortgage delinquency rate in March (the most recent month reported) fell to just 1.7%, the lowest level since January 2000. Continue Reading →
Zillow, the behemoth real estate search site, revealed in it’s Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month for first quarter 2017, that the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) is investigating some practices by Zillow, apparently specifically their co-marketing program, and, according to Zillow’s filing, is alleging that Zillow violated parts of both RESPA as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The complete Form 10-Q can be viewed here. On page 40 (outlined in red by me) is the section where Zillow makes this disclosure, and I have pasted that section of the report below as well (the emphasis and color have been done by me). Continue Reading →
The foreclosure rate in Missouri continues to decline with the foreclosure rate for February 2017 coming in a 0.4 percent, according to a report just released by CoreLogic. The rate for February is down slightly from a year ago when the Missouri foreclosure rate was 0.5 percent. Based upon the mortgage serious delinquency rate (90 days or more) as well as delinquency rate (30 days or more), both lead-indicators or predictors of things to come with regard to foreclosures, the foreclosure rate will continue to decline in the near term. Continue Reading →
It seems almost crazy to even throw out the idea of an adjustment in St Louis home prices or, perhaps even, any sort of slow down in the rate of home price appreciation given that the inventory of homes for sale is so low in so many parts of the St Louis area, however, maybe it’s something to look at. Continue Reading →
This morning the National Mortgage News published an article titled “Lenders Fear Congress May Neuter Mortgage Interest Deduction” in which they caution the mortgage interest deduction (MID), referred to as “a pillar of U.S. housing policy” in the article, may be effectively rendered pointless if Congress makes the significant changes to it that they appear ready to consider. Continue Reading →
Mortgage Delinquency rates, borrowers that are 60 or more days past due, are projected to be 2.21 percent for the 4th quarter of 2016, down from 2.46% the quarter before and marking the 13th consecutive quarter mortgage delinquency rates have fallen, according to a report just released by TransUnion. According to the report, mortgage delinquency rates peaked at 7.21 percent during the 1st quarter of 2010 and have declined for 23 of the last 26 quarters since. TransUnion considers the current mortgage delinquency rate to be normal and is projecting the delinquency rate will fall even further next year down to 2.11% by the end of 2017. Continue Reading →
According to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) released yesterday for the past week, interest rates on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage increased 5 basis points (1/20th of 1%) to 4.13 percent , the highest rate they have been at during 2016. Last year at this time the PMMS showed average interest rates at 3.95 percent so, while rates have increased over the past year, the amount has been fairly small. Continue Reading →
New mortgage applications for a home purchase declined last week 7.0 percent from the prior week, according to a report just released by the Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA). The MBA’s Market Composite Index, which is how they track the volume of loan applications, fell to it’s lowest level for home loans for a purchase since January 2016. Continue Reading →
Over the past 5 years or so I have written a few articles on the topic of the mortgage interest deduction (MID) and how, in spite of what many others in the industry say, I didn’t think it was that critical to the housing industry. All the while, the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) (of which I’m proud to be a member, just happen to disagree on this topic) has staunchly supported the MID and warned that if the deduction went away the housing market and home buyers would suffer. NAR published a fact sheet on the topic stating:
Repealing Continue Reading →
Last week, National Mortgage News, published an article on a report which indicated home prices and homeownership rates are “out of whack”. Continue Reading →
For couples planning to get married before you spend the time doing the bridal registry thing at stores, picking out housewares, china and perhaps some other things you don’t really need or won’t use, consider putting a house on your list! Continue Reading →
One of the more controversial topics to discuss within the REALTOR community is the topic of agent bonuses, a bonus that a seller, by way of the listing broker, would pay to the agent that sells their home, over and above the normal sales commission. Sometimes seller’s, or their listing agents, see this as a way to draw more attention to their listing and to encourage buyer’s agents to show it and sell it. However, there are many conflicting opinions on this topic within the industry which creates some confusion for seller’s (and buyer’s for that matter), so I thought I would take some time to discuss it. Continue Reading →
The number of homeowners that are “seriously underwater”, or in a negative-equity position (meaning they owe more on their home than it is currently worth), increased during the 2nd quarter of this year, according to a report just released by Attom Data Solutions. During the 2nd quarter of 2106, 17.8% of the homeowners, with a mortgage, in the St Louis MSA were in a negative equity position, up from 16.6% the quarter before and up just slightly from 17.4% during the 2nd quarter of 2015. Continue Reading →
Mortgage interest rates have been falling since last Thursday when the referendum passed for the United Kingdom to exit the European Union. As the chart below shows, interest rates on a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage today averaged 3.44%, a new 52-week low and a decline of nearly 3/4 of 1 percent from a year ago when they were 4.20%. Continue Reading →
Home mortgage loan originations in the St Louis metro area declined during the first quarter of this year to 5,843 total loan originations for purchase mortgages, a decline of 16 percent from the prior quarter when there were 6,976 purchase mortgage loan originations, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac. Continue Reading →
In mid-April the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a new program aimed to help homeowners with a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan that are seriously underwater on equity, meaning that their mortgage balance is at least 115 percent of the current value of their home. This new principal reduction modification program offers, to those that qualify, a one-time reduction in the balance of their mortgage to bring them out of a negative equity position. Continue Reading →
A recent article by STL Today indicated that home affordability in St Louis had fallen, specifically noting that affordability in St Louis County had fallen below historic “norms”. As is always the case with stats, it depends upon which data you are taking into account and the accuracy of the data. I decided to take a look at the data and see if my data showed the same result as the STL Today article. Continue Reading →
In the St Louis area there were 44,674 (7.9 percent of all residential properties) with negative equity, or underwater, during the 4th quarter of 2015, according to a report just released by Corelogic. This is a decline of 18.6 percent from the year before when there were 54,604 St Louis homeowners in a negative equity position (9.7 percent of all residential properties) . Continue Reading →