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The number of residential loans entering the foreclosure process is falling, with "no evidence" that a backlog is building up that could suddenly flood the market, according to the chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
August 22 -
Originations of Federal Housing Administration-backed loans fell 23% during the first three quarters of fiscal 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier, a further sign of a weakening single-family market.
July 26 -
The overall level of current and performing mortgages improved in the first quarter to 88.6%, up from 87.6% in the previous quarter and 87.3% a year earlier, according to the latest mortgage metrics report issued by the Office of Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision Wednesday.
June 29
The national delinquency rate on outstanding home mortgages ticked up to 8.44% in the second quarter of 2011, which means roughly $793.4 billion of residential loans are 30 days or more past due.
According to new figures compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association, late payments increased 12 basis points from the first quarter, but are down 141 bps from a year ago. (The numbers are seasonally adjusted.)
"While overall mortgage delinquencies increased only slightly between the first and second quarters of this year, it is clear that the downward trend we saw through most of 2010 has stopped," says MBA chief economist Jay Brinkmann. "Mortgage delinquencies are no longer improving and are now showing some signs of worsening."
The late payment figures exclude foreclosures. At June 30, 4.43% of mortgages were in some stage of foreclosure, a 9 basis point decline from the first quarter and a 14 basis point drop from a year ago.
Brinkmann blames a weak labor market for the worsening late payment numbers, noting that that mortgages "that are one payment, or 30 days, past due are very much driven by changes in the labor market, and the increase in these delinquencies clearly reflects the deterioration we saw in the labor market during the second quarter."
He says that weekly first-time claims for unemployment insurance "started the quarter at 385,000 but finished the quarter at 432,000. The unemployment rate started the quarter at 8.8% but climbed to 9.2% by the end of the quarter."
According to figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report, U.S. housing debt totaled $9.4 trillion at June 30, which was flat compared to March 31.
