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ยป Georgia Marc Oppenheimer Associate Broker, CDPE / BPOR Serving REO Since 1987 1854 Independence Square, Suite D Atlanta, GA 30338 Phone: (770) 668-0063 Cell: (678) 296-6550 oppy@atlantareo.com www.atlantareo.com IN THE NEWS Home Finance WriteOffs Fall to 5-Year Low as Delinquencies Improve A recent National Consumer Credit Trends report filed by Equifax reveals home finance write-offs year-to-date through May reached a total of $69.7 billion. This statistic shows write-offs have hit a five-year low, with a decrease of more than 23 percent year-over-year from 2012's $90.8 billion write-offs during the same time period. The 2013 figure is also nearly 45 percent less than the record $126 billion home finance write-offs during the first five months of 2010. On the opposite end of the spectrum, non-home finance write-offs have increased 3 percent year-to-date to $33.9 billion. Additional statistics from Atlanta-based Equifax include a comparison of home finance 30-day delinquency rates in May 2012 compared to May 2013. The data show pastdue first mortgages in May declined more than 22 percent from a year earlier, dropping from a delinquency rate of 8.26 percent in 2012 to 6.4 percent in 2013. This year's home equity revolving delinquency rate dropped from 3.43 percent to 2.67 percent, also down more than 22 percent. In addition, the home equity installment delinquency rate fell 18 percent from 6.39 percent in May 2012 to 5.24 percent in May 2013. Regarding the report's data, Equifax chief economist Amy Crews Cutts offered some insight and explanation, stating, "Improving payment behavior and decreasing delinquencies has brought some stability to the home-finance sector. While there is still concern over the high volume of existing severely delinquent loans, otherwise known as the shadow inventory, rising home values are bringing more and more borrowers into positive equity and decreasing the likelihood that they will fall into trouble." Cutts goes on to state, "Low mortgage rates, though recently rising to a two-year high of 4 percent on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, have supported strong refinance activity and pushed homebuyer affordability to new highs." Other data covered in the report expounds upon first mortgages, showing that 65 percent of severely delinquent balances are loans opened between 2005 and 2007. Also, agency-funded first mortgage balances increased 4.5 percent year-over-year to $3.91 trillion in May. Non-agency-funded first mortgages, however, experienced a decrease of 7.7 percent during the same time period, falling from $4.13 trillion to $3.81 trillion. Equifax found that home equity revolving loans, in particular, provided some interesting statistics. The total number of new loans in Q1 2013 increased more than 10 percent from a year earlier, while the total new credit balance increased 15 percent from $17.6 billion to $20.2 billion. New loans as well as new credit in the first quarter of this year reached four-year highs. In addition, out of all severely delinquent home equity revolving loan balances, a staggering 73 percent were opened from 2005-2007. Ocwen Agrees to Buy $78B in MSRs from OneWest Ocwen Loan Servicing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Ocwen Financial Corporation, entered into an agreement to purchase $78 billion in mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) from OneWest Bank. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the aggregate purchase price for the MSRs will be approximately $2.53 billion, with $446 million paid in respect of the MSRs and approximately $2.1 billion to be paid in respect of the servicing advances. The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2013, and Ocwen expects the majority of loans will be boarded onto its primary servicing platform. In just the last few months, Ocwen announced the acquisition of agency mortgage rights from Ally and the purchase of Liberty Home Equity Solutions, the nation's largest reverse mortgage lender. VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM Hawaii rank: 3 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate May 2013 2.2% Unemployment Rate 5.8% 4.7% year ago 2.6% 6.3% 6.1% year-over-year change -17.3% -8.2% -23.0% Top County Hawaii CounTy 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate May 2013 2.5% 10.4% year ago 3.4% 11.3% year-over-year change -24.3% -7.7% Top Core-Based Statistical area Hilo, Hi 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate May 2013 2.5% 10.4% year ago 3.4% 11.3% year-over-year change -24.3% -7.7% 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 May 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary May 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Applied Analytics. Idaho rank: 28 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate May 2013 1.6% Unemployment Rate 2.3% 6.2% year ago 2.0% 2.8% 7.3% year-over-year change -18.0% -20.6% -15.1% Top County LInCoLn CounTy 90+ Day Delinquency Rate May 2013 2.5% Foreclosure Rate 5.6% year ago 5.7% 6.8% year-over-year change -56.7% -17.4% Top Core-Based Statistical Area 90+ Day Delinquency Rate BurLey, ID Foreclosure Rate May 2013 1.4% 3.8% year ago 1.7% 3.6% year-over-year change -17.6% 6.3% 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 May 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary May 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Applied Analytics. 79