One in every 10 Americans missed a mortgage payment in the first quarter of this year, a new record.
One in 10 Americans' credit-card usage is being written off, also a new record.
One in six Americans are either unemployed or underemployed.
Over four in 10 of those jobless Americans have been out of work for at least six months and there are five unemployed workers competing for every job opening.
One in four Americans with a mortgage have negative equity in their homes.
One in eight Americans feel the current government policy is actually helping the economy.
Only one in 50 Americans plan to buy a home in the next six months.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Yes, It's Still A House Of Cards
The trend has barely budged, so this is getting repetitious.
Nationally, mortgage purchase applications plummet:
The Refinance Index increased 14.5 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 27.1 percent from one week earlier. This is the lowest Purchase Index observed in the survey since May of 1997. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 27.0 percent compared with the previous week and was 24.1 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
Purchase applications plummeted 27 percent last week and have declined almost 20 percent over the past month, despite relatively low interest rates. The data continue to suggest that the tax credit pulled sales into April at the expense of the remainder of the spring buying season. In fact, this drop occurred even as rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages continued to fall, and at 4.83 percent are at their lowest level since November 2009. Refinance borrowers did react to these lower rates, with refi applications up almost 15 percent, hitting their highest level in nine weeks.
What this means is that there is very little holding this market up. The tax credit has stolen future sales which will result in a serious drop in sales. More disturbing is that this is happening as mortgage rates are 4.83%, or historically very low.
There is a lot of data to suggest that the shadow inventory, homes that are in or close to default, will continue to depress home prices, especially without the tax credit. The MBA also reported that mortgage delinquencies increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.06 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 59 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2009, and up 94 basis points from one year ago .
The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the first quarter was 4.63 percent, an increase of five basis points from the fourth quarter of 2009 and 78 basis points from one year ago. This represents another record high.
Nationally, mortgage purchase applications plummet:
The Refinance Index increased 14.5 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 27.1 percent from one week earlier. This is the lowest Purchase Index observed in the survey since May of 1997. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 27.0 percent compared with the previous week and was 24.1 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
Purchase applications plummeted 27 percent last week and have declined almost 20 percent over the past month, despite relatively low interest rates. The data continue to suggest that the tax credit pulled sales into April at the expense of the remainder of the spring buying season. In fact, this drop occurred even as rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages continued to fall, and at 4.83 percent are at their lowest level since November 2009. Refinance borrowers did react to these lower rates, with refi applications up almost 15 percent, hitting their highest level in nine weeks.
What this means is that there is very little holding this market up. The tax credit has stolen future sales which will result in a serious drop in sales. More disturbing is that this is happening as mortgage rates are 4.83%, or historically very low.
There is a lot of data to suggest that the shadow inventory, homes that are in or close to default, will continue to depress home prices, especially without the tax credit. The MBA also reported that mortgage delinquencies increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.06 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 59 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2009, and up 94 basis points from one year ago .
The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the first quarter was 4.63 percent, an increase of five basis points from the fourth quarter of 2009 and 78 basis points from one year ago. This represents another record high.
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