Morning Briefing: Foreclosures dropped sharply in January

Foreclosures dropped sharply in January… Hispanic homeownership to be discussed at convention… Pending sales hit new record in Massachusetts…

Foreclosures dropped sharply in January
Foreclosure inventory was down 21.7 per cent year-over-year in January while completed foreclosures were down 16.2 per cent. New figures from CoreLogic show that there were 38,000 completed foreclosures in the month while inventory was 456,000; around 1.2 per cent of all homes with a mortgage.

The number of homes in serious delinquency was also down, by 22.5 per cent in the year to January 2016, at 1.2 million mortgages, or 3.2 per cent of the total.

“The improvement in distressed properties continues across the country in every state which is contributing to the lack of stock of available homes and resulting price escalation in many markets,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “So far the trend toward lower delinquency and foreclosures has been immune from shocks from such things as the collapse in oil prices attesting to the durability of the housing recovery.”
 
Hispanic homeownership to be discussed at convention
Next week, housing and Latino leaders will convene in Washington DC to discuss issues affecting Hispanic homeownership. The annual Housing Policy and Hispanic Lending Conference is organized by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals and will take place from March 15 to 17.

Among the keynote speakers are Julian Castro, the 16th Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the 2nd Latino to hold the position. He has set the HUD a clear goal: giving every person, regardless of their station in life, new opportunities to thrive. As the highest ranking housing official in government, he provides his vision for the future of real estate and housing in America.
 
Pending sales hit new record in Massachusetts
February’s pending sales hit a record high in Massachusetts. Mild weather and low mortgage rates pushed pending sales to their highest level since the Massachusetts Association of Realtors began compiling the data in 2004.

There were 4,531 pending sales of single-family homes, up 75.8 per cent from a year earlier while condos saw a 61.8 per cent surge to 1,809 pending sales.

Median prices dipped; by 2.3 per cent for single-family homes to $308,750; and by 2.8 per cent for condos to $285,000.

“What a difference a year makes in pending sales when you don’t have to contend with the snowiest February on record,” said 2016 MAR President Annie Blatz, branch executive at Kinlin Grover Real Estate on Cape Cod. “When you have ongoing strong demand combining with mild weather, very low interest rates and moderating home prices, it’s not surprising why February was so strong for pending sales.”

The MAR Realtor Confidence Index gained 26 per cent in February from a year earlier.