Morning Briefing: Foreclosures drop more than 60 per cent from peak

Foreclosures drop more than 60 per cent from peak… Home prices rise in most metros… Former Trump home in Connecticut up for sale…

Foreclosures drop more than 60 per cent from peak
Foreclosures have declined by 63.3 per cent since they peaked in 2011 according to data from CoreLogic. In its June 2015 National Foreclosure Report the firm states that foreclosure inventory was down by 28.9 per cent and completed foreclosures were down 14.8 per cent from a year earlier. There were 43,000 foreclosures in June 2015 compared with 50,000 a year earlier. The peak was in 2011 when there were 117,119 foreclosures. The June 2015 foreclosure rate is the lowest since December 2007.

CoreLogic also reports that the number of mortgages in serious delinquency (defined as 90 days or more past due, including those loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 23.3 per cent from June 2014 to June 2015, with 1.3 million mortgages, or 3.5 per cent, falling into this category. This is the lowest serious delinquency rate since January 2008. On a month-over-month basis, the number of seriously delinquent mortgages declined by 3.4 per cent.
 
Home prices rise in most metros
Home prices increased in the second quarter of 2015 across most metro areas. Figures from the National Association of Realtors show that 93 per cent of its ‘measured markets’ saw median prices increase 8.2 per cent for single-family detached homes to $229,400. The median price during the first quarter of this year increased 7.1 per cent from a year earlier.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the housing market has shifted into a higher gear in recent months. "Steady rent increases, the slow rise in mortgage rates and stronger local job markets fueled demand throughout most of the country this spring," he said. "While this led to a boost in sales paces not seen since before the downturn, overall supply failed to keep up and pushed prices higher in a majority of metro areas."

Total existing-home sales, including single family and condo, increased 6.6 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.30 million in the second quarter from 4.97 million in the first quarter, and are 8.5 per cent higher than the 4.89 million pace during the second quarter of 2014.
 
Former Trump home in Connecticut up for sale
A mansion, once owned by Donald and Ivana Trump is on the market in Greenwich, CT. The 8-bedroom, 10-bathroom estate on the waterfront sits on 5.8 acres and is listed at $54 million. The Trumps lived in the home when they were first married back in the early 80’s when it cost just $4 million. The Connecticut Post says that Ivana got to keep the property when the couple divorced and she sold it in 1998 for $15 million.