Author: Brad Beckett

According to November’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from ATTOM Data, foreclosure filings were down 14% from one year ago, with just over 10k U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in November.  Their analysis also reported that lenders foreclosed (REO) on a total of 2,010 U.S. properties, down 22% from October 2020 and down 86% from November 2019. “It’s not unusual to see foreclosure activity slow down beginning in November and through the holiday season,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president at RealtyTrac, an ATTOM Data Solutions company. Click here to read the full report at ATTOM Data Solutions.

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices were up 1.5% in October and up 10.2% from one year ago.  The FHFA produces the nation’s only public, freely available house price indexes (HPIs) that measure changes in single-family house prices based on data that cover all 50 states and over 400 American cities and extend back to the mid-1970s.  The FHFA’s HPIs are built on tens of millions of home sales and offer insights about home price fluctuations at the levels of the nation, census division, state, metro area, county, ZIP code,…

According to Black Knight’s “first look” report for November, 2020, mortgage delinquencies improved for the 6th consecutive month in November, falling to 6.33% from 6.44% in October.  In addition, Black Knight says while early-stage delinquencies have fallen back below pre-pandemic levels, seriously past-due (90+ days) mortgages remain 1.8 million above their pre-pandemic level.  Indeed… “Delinquencies Improved Again in November 2020, But Nearly 2.2 Million Seriously Past-Due Mortgages Remain” Click here to read the full report at Black Knight.

With President Trump’s signature on the recent $900 Billion Covid-19 Relief Bill the details are fully emerging and being implemented by the Administration.  Among these are an extension of the CDC eviction moratorium through January, 2021 as well as provisions for emergency rental assistance, details of which were discussed in a previous post.  Below is an excerpt from a congressional summary document of H.R. 133, courtesy of WSJ.com: Subtitle A — Emergency Rental Assistance Sec. 501. Emergency Rental Assistance. Section 5201 appropriates $25 billion through Treasury to provide to state and local government entities, including $400 million for U.S. territories…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in November, 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 841k which is 11% lower than October’s revised rate, but is 20.8% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in November was $335,300 with an average sales price of $390,100.  There were an estimated 286k new houses for sale at the end of November representing a 4.1–month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales dropped 2.5% in November to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6.69 million (up 25.8% from one year ago).  Total housing inventory at the end of November was 1.28 million units, down 9.9% from October and down 22% from one year ago.  Unsold inventory sits at an all-time low 2.3-month supply at the current sales pace with properties remaining on the market for around 21 days. The median existing-home price for all housing types was $310,800, up 14.6% from November, 2019. “Home sales in November took a marginal step back,…

Merry Christmas!  With that in mind, discount site CouponLawn.com says this Christmas will be unlike any other we have ever seen.  This year’s Pandemic has changed our lives in so many ways that it will be some time before a new normal emerges.  In fact, This Christmas saw Americans spending less with their gift-giving spirit – not to mention being hindered by the travel restrictions, lock-downs and health issues that many of us or our loved ones experienced.  However, the love & spirit of Christmas cannot be taken away and we will emerge better and stronger as we focus on…

According to recent analysis from the NAHB’s Survey of Construction, 63.2% of all new single-family homes started in 2019 were built on slab foundations, followed by 22.6% with a full/partial basement and 13.0% with a crawl space.  Interestingly, the NAHB says the gap between slab and full/partial basement foundation adoption rates seems to be growing.  Indeed… There are large regional differences in foundation types across the nation. Homes in colder areas, where building codes normally require foundations to be built below the frost line, are predominately constructed with full or partial basements. Click here to read the full report at…

Realtor.com says the pandemic has taken the shine out of big-city life with gathering places shuttered and little space to maintain physical distance from others.  They say this has caused many people to revise the perceived value of urban living and are now looking to the suburbs – where they might have room for a real home office and even a yard.  To that end, their number-crunchers took a look at which suburbs are seeing prices rise the most due to low inventory coupled with high demand.  Indeed… “If you look at the towns on this list, it highlights there…

On the heels of Congress passing a $900 billion COVID-relief package, the Federal Housing Administration announced that it was extending their eviction and foreclosure moratorium as well as their loan forbearance policies through February 28, 2021.  Listed below is the full text of their release: FHA EXTENDS OPTIONS FOR SINGLE FAMILY BORROWERS FINANCIALLY IMPACTED BY COVID-19 Extensions ensure borrowers can continue to seek assistance and avoid eviction and foreclosure while maintaining temporary policy flexibilities for lenders and servicers WASHINGTON – Today, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced it is extending the foreclosure and eviction moratorium for single family FHA-insured mortgages…