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» 10,000 homeowners who were victims of Hurricane Sandy find temporary mortgage relief. Workouts lead to significant savings for companies, according to the GSE. Freddie Mac says the income lost from modifying a loan is about one fourth the cost of liquidating a property. The GSE also says it expects short sale timelines to decrease 50 to 75 percent due to recent program enhancements. Efforts to avoid foreclosure have helped the GSE cut its single-family serious delinquency rate by 30 percent to less than 3 percent, a first since mid-2009. In 2012 alone, Freddie Mac servicers helped more than one million borrowers remain in their homes, the GSE revealed in a separate announcement. Last year's total includes 687,000 borrowers who refinanced their mortgage, of which 434,000 refinanced under the Home Affordable Refinance Program. In 2012, 70,000 delinquent borrowers with Freddie Mac loans received a modification through the Home Affordable Modification Program and the Standard Modification, the GSE reported. Another 46,000 borrowers received temporary relief through forbearance, reinstatement, and repayment plans. For borrowers who could not keep their homes, Freddie Mac reported 53,000 exited through a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure in 2012. A Growing Number of Markets Are 'Fully Recovered' recession-induced declines, and many are located in energy-producing states. Six of the top 10 markets with the most significant rebounds are located in Texas, and four of these Texas markets are more than 200 percent above their price troughs. San Antonio (+233 percent), Houston (+223 percent), Austin (+220 percent), and Dallas (+203 percent) claim the top four spots on Homes.com's top 10 list. So far, among the top 100 U.S. markets, none in the Northeast are fully recovered, and only one Western market included in the index is fully recovered. The highest concentration of fully recovered markets is in the South, where 10 markets are fully recovered. The lowest-performing markets tend to be those that experienced the deepest price troughs during the recession. "Although the change is positive, the rebound is slow indicating higher inventories may exist in these areas," according to the Homes.com report. Topping the list of lowest-performing markets on Homes.com's Rebound Report are New York–Northern New Jersey–Long Island, New York–New Jersey–Pennsylvania (+12 percent); Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk, Connecticut (+11 percent); Stockton, California (+11 percent); and Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, Florida (+11 percent). 2.8% The housing recovery is undeniable and widespread, according to the Local Market Index and Rebound Reports released by Norfolk, Virginia-based Homes.com. In April, the index detected rising prices in all the nation's top 100 markets for the first time on record. The latest reading is up markedly from the 75 markets that reported gains in February, according to Homes.com. Not only are home prices posting the strongest gains in years, but according to Homes.com, 14 of the top 100 markets are also "fully recovered," and 35 markets are at least halfway to "recovered" status. During the month of April, five markets joined the company's list of "fully recovered" markets. Fully recovered markets are those that have regained their full price declines lost during the recession. Several markets—in fact, all of the top 10—have passed the fully recovered milestone. Most of the markets in this category are those that experienced the mildest Marliss Gruver The Marliss Gruver Group RE/MAX Four Seasons 24 Hour Occupancy Checks, Cash for Keys, Property Preservation, Maintenance and Repairs, BPO's, Full Marketing Campaigns ABR, GRI, CRS, CDPE Direct: 360.790.6900 Office: 360.357.3336 marliss@marlissgruver.com 2010 #2 WA RE/MAX Agent, (closed transactions) 2011 #3 WA RE/MAX Agent, (closed transactions) STAT INSIGHT 7.5% Share of outstanding mortgage in Washington state that were delinquent or in foreclosure as of the end of May. Source: Lender Processing Services rank: 35 rank: 21 Foreclosure Rate May 2013 Washington West Virginia Washington 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Unemployment Rate 2.5% 6.8% 90+ Day Delinquency Rate 2.0% 2.4% 8.4% -19.0% 2.3% 2.2% Foreclosure Rate May 2013 4.2% -11.5% -34.0% 3.8% Wyoming CounTy 90+ Day Delinquency Rate May 2013 2.9% 3.5% Foreclosure Rate 3.0% 3.3% 2.8% year-over-year change year-over-year change -35.7% -15.1% year ago year ago 6.5% 7.3% Top County Top County PierCe CounTy 6.2% year-over-year change 2.6% 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Unemployment Rate 1.5% year-over-year change -37.8% Foreclosure Rate May 2013 year ago year ago 4.6% VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 6.1% -12.9% 5.7% Top Core-Based Statistical Area Top Core-Based Statistical Area ABerdeen, WA HunTingTon-ASHlAnd, WV-Ky-oH 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate May 2013 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate May 2013 3.6% 3.7% 2.1% 5.2% 3.3% 2.1% 2.1% year-over-year change year-over-year change -30.3% 2.6% year ago year ago 11.4% 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. 1.6% 26.8% 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 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. 95