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» IN THE NEWS Vermont rank: 10 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate September 2013 1.8% Unemployment Rate 3.3% 4.6% year ago 1.7% 3.9% 5.1% Freddie Mac Sees New Business Slip to Lowest Volume in 18 Months Washington rank: 25 90+ Day Delinquency Rate -9.8% Top County 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate September 2013 2.5% 5.9% year ago 2.6% 4.8% year-over-year change -4.0% 22.2% Top Core-Based statistical area BennInGTon, VT 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate September 2013 2.5% 4.8% year ago 2.5% 5.0% year-over-year change -0.5% -5.0% 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 September 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary September 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Virginia rank: 48 90+ Day Delinquency Rate 2.2% Foreclosure Rate September 2013 Unemployment Rate 0.8% 5.6% year ago 2.2% 1.5% 5.9% year-over-year change -3.8% -50.5% -5.1% Top County Cumberland CounTy 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate September 2013 3.6% 2.6% year ago 3.8% 3.5% year-over-year change -5.9% -26.8% Top Core-based Statistical area WaShingTon-arlingTon-alexandria, dC-Va-md-WV 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate September 2013 2.4% 1.9% year ago 3.5% 2.5% year-over-year change -32.3% Unemployment Rate 2.0% 6.9% year ago 4.1% 2.8% 8.0% year-over-year change -17.0% Grand Isle CounTy Foreclosure Rate September 2013 2.6% year-over-year change 4.0% VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM -23.4% 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 September 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary September 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. September marked the third straight month of declining business for McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac, with purchases and issuances coming in at their lowest level in a year and a half. Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio shrank at an annualized rate of 4.3 percent in September, contracting at a slightly lessened pace compared to August's -5 percent growth rate. Through September, 2013's average monthly growth rate has been -2 percent. Freddie Mac's portfolio has contracted through six of the year's first nine months. By the end of September, the GSE's ending balance stood at $1.927 trillion. New business fell for the second straight month, with purchases and issuances totaling approximately $28.2 billion—the lowest since April 2012 when volume was $25.9 billion. Year-to-date through September, new business totals $382.5 billion. Multifamily new business volume was $1 billion in September and $18.8 billion for the year's first nine months. The GSE's portfolio of mortgage-related securities and other guarantees took a downturn after improving in August, shrinking for only the third time this year at a rate of -0.2 percent. Single-family refinance loan purchase and guarantee volume was $16.4 billion, representing 62 percent of total single-family purchases and issuances—another sign of consumers' fading interest in refinances. Relief refinance mortgages made up 39 percent of the mortgage financier's single-family refinance volume in September. The company's single-family seriously delinquent rate dropped to 2.58 percent, continuing its declining trend. Freddie Mac reported 6,685 loan modifications in September, totaling 60,431 year-to-date. The GSE's multifamily delinquency rate was flat at 0.05 percent. KNOW THIS Barclays analysts are forecasting home price appreciation of 7.2% in Virginia for 2013. -35.2% -27.4% -13.8% Top County Grays Harbor CounTy 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate September 2013 3.6% 3.2% year ago 4.8% 3.8% year-over-year change -23.9% -15.8% Top Core-based statistical area aberdeen, Wa 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate September 2013 3.6% 3.2% year ago 4.8% 3.8% year-over-year change -23.9% -15.8% 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 September 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary September 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. IN THE NEWS Activity from Homebuyers Picks Up in Aftermath of Shutdown Homebuyers shook off their fears and returned to the market in force following the re-opening of the federal government in October, according to data presented by Redfin's Research Center. The Seattle-based online brokerage reported a 58 percent annual increase in the number of interested buyers reaching out to its agents in the week immediately following the resolution of the partial government shutdown, up from a 41 percent year-overyear increase recorded the prior week. "In the aftermath of the shutdown and debt ceiling debacle, a storm of news media and economists tallied the damage done to consumer confidence and predicted that anxious Americans would spend less through the new year. In the housing market, however, these predictions aren't panning out," said Redfin analyst Ellen Haberle. 93