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IN THE NEWS Rhode Island Sees Best Year Since 2009 Listen closely to the beat of the industry. DS News—keeping you in sync with success. Subscribe today. Call 214.525.6700 or visit DSNews.com. Rhode Island rank: 9 90+ Day Delinquency Rate 4.0% Foreclosure Rate February 2013 Unemployment Rate 4.0% 9.4% year ago 4.0% 4.1% 10.7% year-over-year change -1.1% -1.7% -12.1% Top County PRovIdenCe CounTy 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate February 2013 4.8% Mortgage activity in the New England region hit a five-year high in 2012, the Warren Group reported, with Rhode Island experiencing its best year since 2009. The Ocean State saw a total of 42,680 originations last year, up from 32,992 in 2011. Purchase mortgage volume increased 14 percent to 7,347, while the number of refinance mortgages increased to 35,333. According to the Warren Group's report, Connecticut and Massachusetts also saw strong activity last year. In Connecticut, mortgage activity rose more than 26 percent year-over-year from 2011 to a total of 111,850. Purchase originations rose 13.5 percent to 24,757, while refinances rose 30 percent to 117,002. Meanwhile, total residential mortgage activity rose nearly 38 percent statewide in Massachusetts, increasing to 332,582 from 241,490 in 2011. Purchase mortgages spiked more than 25 percent, reading 57,324, while refinance mortgages rose 41 percent to 275,258. Marie Wentling, director of product strategy at the Warren Group, says the fact that single-family home sales in the tri-state region have increased for 13 consecutive months is "a sure sign the housing market [is] in recovery mode." In addition to the spike in mortgages used to purchase homes, the area saw a strong increase in refinance mortgages. Refinance share in the region last year was about 83 percent compared to 81 percent in 2011. Nationally, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports the refinance share of mortgage applications was about 82 percent in 2012. 4.9% year ago 4.9% 5.0% STAT INSIGHT year-over-year change -1.4% -2.9% Top Core-Based Statistical Area PRovIdenCe-new BedfoRd-fAll RIveR, RI-MA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate February 2013 4.3% 3.7% year ago 4.0% 4.1% year-over-year change 6.2% -7.8% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the February 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary February 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Applied Analytics. 104 Number of days for completing foreclosure on a GSE loan in Rhode Island after timeline extensions took effect March 1. Source: Fannie Mae South Carolina rank: 13 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate February 2013 2.5% Unemployment Rate 3.6% 8.6% year ago 2.6% 4.8% 9.4% year-over-year change -1.4% -25.7% -8.5% Top County JaSper CounTy 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate February 2013 5.8% 6.8% year ago 4.5% 8.8% year-over-year change 28.3% -23.0% Top Core-Based Statistical area LanCaSTer, SC 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate February 2013 3.9% 6.0% year ago 4.1% 7.1% year-over-year change -3.7% -15.7% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the February 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary February 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Applied Analytics. IN THE NEWS South Carolina Home Prices Rise Amid Inventory Constraints Home values in South Carolina moved alongside the national trend as tightened inventory pushed up prices. In March, the median sales price for homes in South Carolina rose 4.6 percent year-over-year to $151,600, according to data from South Carolina Realtors (SCR). Even though new listings improved by 3.4 percent after totaling 9,985, overall inventory was still down 10.1 percent, falling to 46,336 units. Homes also stayed on the market for a shorter period of time, SCR reported. Dayson-market in March was down 8.4 percent to 128 days. According to data from RealtyTrac, South Carolina ranks No. 8 on the company's list of states with the highest foreclosure rates. In March, one out of every 673 properties in the state received a foreclosure filing compared to the national average of one out of every 859 properties.