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80 STATE OF AFFAIRS: NORTHEAST ยป New Hampshire RANK: 35 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate APRIL 2014 2.06% 1.03% 4.4 YEAR AGO 2.23% 1.54% 5.3 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -7.4% -32.9% -0.9 Top County SULLIVAN COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate APRIL 2014 3.08% 1.59% YEAR AGO 3.02% 2.85% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 2.0% -44.5% Top Core-Based Statistical Area BERLIN, NH-VT 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate APRIL 2014 3.37% 1.94% YEAR AGO 2.98% 2.62% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 13.4% -25.8% 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 April 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary April 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. aforementioned state law prohibits creditors from blocking such programs. e recently filed suit alleges the two GSEs have failed to comply with the law due to policies that prohibit property sales to nonprofits in order to resell the property to the original homeowner. "It makes no sense for our federal government to stand in the way of this work to help struggling families stay in their homes, and it is illegal for Fannie and Freddie to do this in Massachusetts," Coakley said. "For too long, Fannie and Freddie have been roadblocks to progress in addressing this foreclosure crisis, and I urge them to immediately reverse their policy on this commonsense program." One example cited in the complaint is Boston Community Capital's Stabilizing Urban Neighborhoods (SUN) Initiative. e program buys back foreclosed REO properties at present market value and sells them back to homeowners. "Buyback programs like SUN prevent needless displacement of families that through an arrangement with a nonprofit can afford to stay in their homes. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have continued to block buybacks even though they lose money in the process," the AG's office said in a release. Representatives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offered no comment, citing pending litigation. IN THE NEWS New Hampshire Foreclosure Deeds Fall e number of foreclosure deeds in New Hampshire fell in March, suggesting that New Hampshire's long-term foreclosure outlook will continue to improve, according to the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority (NHHFA). e foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2014 was below that of every year since 2007 and is 21 percent below last year's first quarter. Foreclosure deeds in March declined 6 percent from February, as well as fell on a yearly basis 22 percent. "In a continuation of the decline from 2012 to 2013, 2014 can be expected to record a 20-plus percent drop in foreclosure deeds," NHHFA said. So far this year, 637 foreclosure deeds have been recorded in the state. e group notes that foreclosure auction notices provide an indication of households that have fallen seriously behind in mortgage payments. Foreclosure notices decreased in March by 18 percent, a 47, percent decrease from March 2013. Foreclosure auction notice activity has declined at a rate of roughly 809 notices per month from its peak in 2010 to 368 notices per month in 2013, a 55, percent decline. e group was cautious to note that recent improvements are still not indicative of a full recovery in New Hampshire. "While the mortgage delinquency rate in New Hampshire has declined from its peak of 9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, it remains well above its pre-recession rate of less than 4 percent," NHHFA said. e group further commented that the unemployment rate has shown "erratic but regular improvement" from its peak of 7.3 percent in 2010. e unemployment rate in New Hampshire stood at 4.9 percent as of March. Still, it remains above the pre- recession rate of approximately 4 percent. e link between a high unemployment rate and mortgage delinquency "suggests that there is a correlation between these two rates since most households with mortgages that experience a job loss will fall behind in their payments once savings have been exhausted," NHHFA opined. New Jersey RANK: 1 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate APRIL 2014 3.22% 6.49% 6.9 YEAR AGO 4.70% 7.32% 8.5 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -31.5% -11.5% -1.6 Top County SALEM COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate APRIL 2014 5.04% 11.55% YEAR AGO 7.36% 10.83% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -31.5% 6.6% Top Core-Based Statistical Area VINELAND-MILLVILLE-BRIDGETON, NJ 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate APRIL 2014 6.36% 10.42% YEAR AGO 8.45% 10.15% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -24.7% 2.6% 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 April 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary April 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. New Jersey Lisa G Lopez Broker of Record Home Alliance Realty 142 E. Bay Ave Manahawkin, NJ 08050 609-978-9009 (o) 609-384-5109 (c) lglopez@verizon.net www.HomeAllianceRealty.com www.LisaLopezProperties.com Yearly home prices in New Hampshire, including distressed homes, increased by 2.9 percent in April, according to CoreLogic's Home Price Index. KNOW THIS Total foreclosure completions (REO) in New Jersey in May 2014 Source: RealtyTrac's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report STAT INSIGHT 477