Mortgage application volume decreased 10.5% from last week, said the Mortgage Bankers Association. RealPoint reports CMBS delinquencies increased 1.3% in August. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book shows economic growth continued in September. Fannie Mae expects total economic growth for this year to equal approximately 2.5%.
Loan originations increased 25% from 2008, according to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. The Commerce Department reports new home and apartment construction rose 10.5% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 598,000. Zillow claims interest rates fell again to 4.25%.
According to Capital Economics, business investment rose 17% during the second quarter. Multiple forecasters suspect the housing market and the economy are in a double dip. Zillow reports that 18.2% of all O.C. homes sold for a loss. The Case-Shiller 20-city home price index shows prices increased 1% from May to June.
Non-farm payrolls decreased by 131,000 in July, according to the Department of Labor. HUD’s secretary announced a new program, which will allow borrowers to refinance on underwater mortgages. Barclay’s Capital is taking back their previous estimate of a double dip recession, and now believes we will experience ‘moderate growth’. One-third of U.S. citizens are renting, and more than 14% live in a rental apartment.
Mortgage application volume increased 1.3 percent this week, according to the MBA. Large home builders, such as PulteGroup and DR Horton, are claiming a quarterly profit. Analysts expect total payrolls to decline in official Census data which is due Friday. The American Bankruptcy Institute expressed concerns that consumer bankruptcies might total 1.6 million this year.
Statistics from the Federal Reserve show the median borrower who ‘strategically’ defaults doesn’t walk away from the mortgage until the amount owed exceeds the value of the home by 62%.McGraw-Hill Construction reports new construction starts increased 3% in April. According to CoreLogic, more than 11 million borrowers currently owe more on their mortgage than it is worth. Experian statistics show that 19 percent of all defaults in 2009 were strategic.
Christopher Cagan from First American predicts a dip in housing prices in the near future. A study from Harvard University seems to show that high unemployment is fueling the foreclosure crisis. Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics believes the recession is currently over, but he expects economic conditions to get worse over the next two years.REIS Inc predicts U.S. apartments may lead a rebound in commercial real estate.
According to the NAHB, both demand and production of apartments increased from Q1 2009. Freddie Mac reports rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell to 4.72 percent this week. RealtyTrac claims U.S. foreclosure activity decreased by 3 percent in May. Household net worth rose by 2.1 percent in the first quarter.
MetLife is expecting a comeback in the commercial real estate market. According to LPS, More than 7.3m mortgages in the US are non-current or in REO status this month. Orange County apartment rent rates fell 5 percent during the first quarter of 2010. President Obama nominatedJanet Yellen, Peter Diamond and Sarah Bloom Raskin for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to the US Senate.
A recent Fannie Mae survey shows that approximately two-thirds of Americans would still prefer to own a home. Independent mortgage bankers and subsidiaries made an average profit of $890 on each loan they originated in the fourth quarter of 2009.The National Bankruptcy Research Center claims that bankruptcies could total over 1.5 million this year. According to Reis Inc, rent prices declined by 1.6 percent from last year.
