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67 March 2025 J O U R N A L March 2025 » basis points for FHA loans, and in- creased 32 basis points for VA loans from the previous quarter. Com- pared to a year ago, the seriously delinquent rate increased by two basis points for conventional loans, by 70 basis points for FHA loans, and by 57 basis points for VA loans. • The five states with the largest quarterly increases in their overall delinquency rate were: Florida (99 basis points), South Carolina (59 basis points), North Carolina (40 ba- sis points), Georgia (39 basis points), and Louisiana (32 basis points). What Lies Ahead The year, 2025 began with a major climate-related issue destroying billions of real estate in the California mar- ketplace as wildfires tore through the region and may drive Q1 delinquencies upward. A recent study by Realtor.com took a closer look at the immediate and long-term impact that the wildfires in the Palisades and Eaton regions of Los Angeles County will have on the area's housing market. Fueled by lingering drought-like conditions and ongoing windy condi- tions, communities in the Los Angeles County region are faced with the deci- sion to either stay and rebuild or pick up the pieces and relocate elsewhere. Though the full damage of the fires has yet to be fully assessed, more than $40 billion worth of residential real estate is located within the boundaries of the impacted area. In measuring the impact on the housing space in the long- and near-term, Realtor.com matched up fire perimeters as reported by the National Interagency Fire Center on January 21, 2025, with its database of residential properties and found the following: • The estimated 15,800-plus residen- tial properties within the desig- nated fire boundaries had a total value of $40.3 billion. This estimate includes single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and cooperatives. • The sizable total value of residences impacted by the fires stems from both the high number and the relatively high median value. The median home within the boundar- ies of the Eaton fire has an esti- mated $1.3 million value while the typical home in the Palisades fire boundary has an estimated value of $3 million. • For comparison, the total value of residential real estate in Los Angeles County is $2 trillion, and the median value of the 1.7 million properties in Los Angeles County is somewhat lower ($870,500). It is challenging to estimate the magnitude of the housing supply stock at this time. The majority of reports that are now accessible only include "structures" that have been demolished, which makes it difficult to convert them into "housing units," which are the standard indicator of supply in the residential market. An initial estimate of the home stock lost by the recent fires was generated by First American for the study. According to the analysis, during the first week of the f lames, between 1.1% and 1.6% of Los Angeles' entire housing stock might have been destroyed.