Home Stretch for Foreclosures?

Written by Jim the Realtor

February 17, 2011

From Diana at cnbc.com

Fewer Americans are falling behind on their mortgage payments; in fact, the fewest in two years. Mortgages just one payment past due (30 days) fell to their lowest level since just before the recession began.

Is it delays in paperwork from the so called “robo-signing” (faulty paperwork) foreclosure servicing scandal? No. It’s actual fundamentals in the economy and the mortgage market. Go figure.

“As we got toward the end of 2010 we began to see another drop in weekly claims for unemployment insurance. I think that’s a key driver of the short term delinquencies,” notes Jay Brinkmann, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

But even more significant is the improved underwriting that began after the mortgage market crashed. “The loans that are in the system now on average are better quality than what was in there before,” says Brinkmann, who explains that loans usually go bad in the first three years of life. We’re now past the delinquency peak on loans that were underwritten during the worst, headiest phase of the housing boom in 2006 and 2007. “These new loans are less likely to go bad,” Brinkmann adds.

The biggest issue going forward is not new delinquencies, but the huge pipeline of loans already in the foreclosure process. It stands at 4.63 percent, tying the survey’s record high. This is due to foreclosure paperwork issues that have stalled the process, especially in the key state of Florida, where nearly one quarter of all mortgages are either delinquent or in foreclosure.

17 Comments

  1. CMC

    Anything shown on cnbc – the opposite is true.

  2. Jim the Realtor

    Agreed, they are ivory-tower types. She’s been banging hard on the real estate market for months, so I suspect this will be a momentary break.

    But the perceptions being transmitted to the general public is what’s worth noting – to those not paying attention like you and I.

  3. 3rd Generation

    Remember these gems reported from the bought and paid for (owned) MSM shills?

    A) I smoked but I did not inhale
    B) I did not have sex with THAT woman

    Weapons of mass destruction and ties to al quida (sp) Bonus: Aluminum tubes and yellow cake uranium

    A) Mission Accomplished -duh
    B) Without TARP this sucker could go down…

    A) If elected I will end the war in Iraq
    B) I was born in Hawaii
    C) CHANGE you can BELIEVE in…

    Honorable Mention:
    Houses only go up
    You can Always Refinance
    Buy NOW or be priced out forever

    Grand Prize:
    This listing is Special: Suzanne Researched it…

    Beware. Remember, no one EVER went broke underestimating the stupid, lazy fat-ass semi-retarded American public. Who’s on Idol tomight. Issn’t NASCAR on today? Fart, Belch, Poop.

  4. swm

    The magic question isn`t what`s available now. It is the `quality` of the properties being held back by the bank in the shadow inventory. Since most banks have released the properties that have given them the best chance at breaking even, it stands to reason the worst (that is, the properties they`ll take the biggest losses on) is yet to come for them. And more incentive to keep kicking the can down the road.

  5. George

    Yes, yet another sign of the “recovery.”

    And pigs can fly…

  6. dacounselor

    Thankfully it is only a subprime mortgage problem that is contained.

    Regards,
    Hank & Ben

  7. Geotpf

    Here we go, but I can’t let this racist stuff pass…

    3rd Generation, if you actually think the president was born anywhere except Hawaii, you yourself are a charter member of the stupid, lazy fat-ass semi-retarded American public.

  8. Mozart

    Geotpf is right. Let’s keep the politics out. It always drags the conversation down.

  9. clearfund

    Geotpf – There is no racist overtone in 3G’s email. Leveling him with that charge is outrageous, egregious, and preposterous.

    Having a different opinion than others (correctly or incorrectly) used to be encouraged in this country, now it seems one is labeled a racist for it.

    This blog is better than that.

  10. Jim the Realtor

    Agreed.

    Controversial, maybe, but racist?

    His point wasn’t a racist thought, and I’ll tolerate freedom of expression (just don’t pick on me!).

  11. chrisanthemama

    @Geotpf: not a racist comment you’re reacting to, but certainly reality-challenged.

  12. swm

    3rd, you have to admit, it was sheer genius for his parents to put the birth announcement in the Honolulu newspaper that week knowing someday he`d be president.

  13. Geotpf

    The racist aspect here is “He’s black, he couldn’t be born in Hawaii-he must have been born in Africa!” It’s also a completely retarded conspiracy theory even ignoring that aspect.

  14. Anonymous

    “As we got toward the end of 2010 we began to see another drop in weekly claims for unemployment insurance. I think that’s a key driver of the short term delinquencies,” notes Jay Brinkmann, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

    ooops >> The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims: In the week ending Feb. 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 410,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 385,000. The 4-week moving average was 417,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 416,000.

  15. Geotpf

    If Obama’s was white, and his father was a citizen of Canada or France instead of Kenya, do you think there would be a similar conspiracy theory that he was actually born in Canada or France? Of course not. Therefore, his skin color is the cause of the rumor, therefore it is racist.

  16. Jeeman

    Just catching up….anybody think $5/gallon gas is going to cause fewer foreclosures or more? I’d guess in the outlying areas, those on the edge are going to be pushed over into foreclosure.

    So sad to see Geotpf pull out the race card. It seems to be the common knee-jerk reaction to anything critical of our President.

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