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37 » VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM DISTRESSING NEWS FOR WESTERN U.S. Auction.com's first Client Summit Survey reported that 40% of its respondents revealed the western region of the U.S. is expected to see the largest rise of distressed properties in the second half of 2019. e southern region of the nation is expected to see the lowest increase in distressed properties at 17%. e survey added that 23% of respondents expect the midwest to see an increase and that amount drops to 20% for the northeast. According to the survey, the western region posted a 10% quarter-over-quarter increase in foreclosure starts in Q1 2019, higher than the nationwide 7% increase and tied with the south for the largest regional increase. "Additionally, several bellwether markets in the west posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts, including San Diego County, (up 16%); Salt Lake County, (up 11%); Denver County, (up 20%); Snohomish County/Seattle, (up 36%); and Multnomah County/Portland, Oregon, (up 48%)," the report states. ese responses represent a shift from trends earlier in the year, as foreclosure starts in the south increased 12% year-over-year in Q1 2019. e report noted that Q1 2019 year-over-year increase in the south region could be partially due to the lingering effects of the 2017 hurricane season, given the above-average increases in markets hit hard by the hurricanes: Harris County/Houston (up 109%); Palm Beach County, Florida, (up 109%); and Orange County/Orlando, Florida, (up 218%). Of the survey respondents, 72% plan to increase loss mitigation efforts in the remainder of 2019, and 81% of those expecting more foreclosure activity planned to increase loss mitigation. e survey found that just 16% of respondents expect to see a "substantial increase" in loss mitigation efforts. According to CoreLogic's latest Loan Performance Insights report delinquency rates have fallen year-over-year from 4.3% in April 2018. Natural disasters, especially in the western U.S., though, are still a cause for concern. "However, a number of metros that suffered a natural disaster or economic decline contradict this national trend. For example, in the wake of the 2018 California Camp Fire, the serious delinquency rate in the Chico, California, metro area was 21% higher than one year ago," said Frank Nothaft, Chief Economist for CoreLogic. THE GROWTH OF HISPANIC HOMEOWNERSHIP Hispanics are one of the fastest growing groups of homeowners in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reports. WSJ states that Hispanics are experiencing the largest homeownership gains of any ethnic group in the U.S., bouncing back from a 50-year low in 2015. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that homeownership in this demographic has increased by 3.3 percentage points since 2015, compared to the overall U.S. homeownership rate increase of 1.3 percentage points since homeownership rates bottomed out in 2016. The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) states that Hispanics accounted for the majority of new U.S. homeowner gains over the past decade, making up nearly 63% of total gains. "The housing market would look very different today if it weren't for a tidal wave of Latino homebuyers," Gary Acosta, NAHREP's co-founder and Chief Executive told WSJ. But despite the increases in homeownership, Hispanic homeowners remain at high risk of foreclosure; especially those who took advantage of risky loans during the housing crisis. According to Zillow, homes in Hispanic neighborhoods were 2.5 times more likely to be foreclosed upon than homes in white communities bet ween 2007 and 2015, after Hispanics and blacks saw signif icant gains in homeownership as lenders targeted minority buyers with these risky loans, eventually leading to foreclosure. A study from Clever.com revealed the racial disparities among mortgage applicants in these populations. According to the study, African-Americans are t wice as likely to be denied a mortgage when controlling for income, and African- Americans (105%) and Hispanics (78%) were more likely to use high-cost mortgages to purchase a home. Looking at borrowers by race, it indicated that "mortgage applicants are predominantly white." Out of the sample of 1.7 million applicants analyzed by Clever. com, more than 1.4 million mortgage applicants were white, compared to 80,442 African-Americans, 93,762 Asian- Americans, 29,293 American Indians, and 15,645 Native Hawaiians or Pacif ic Islanders.

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