Is Weather Causing a Slow Down in Foreclosures?

This week’s wrap up looks at the current state of mortgage interest rates, activity in the local Pikes Peak area as well as national and international real estate news.

Each week Fannie Mae surveys lenders across the country to determine the average 15 and 30 year mortgage rates and the points required to get that rate. This week the 30 year rate ended the week at 4.95% which is down slightly from last week. The 15 year rate ended the week at 4.32% also slightly down from last week. The Mortgage Banker’s Association reports that residential real estate mortgage applications are up and the percentage of those for home purchase rather than refi are on the increase; both good signs. The Wall Street Journal compiled some great information on the refinance situation many current homeowners can’t or won’t participate in. Record low interest rates are no match for new credit standards, decreased value which may require additional private mortgage insurance and thousands upfront in fees. Current homeowners should take a read because it does provide some interesting information.

Nationwide, foreclosure filings for February are up 6% over February one year ago. This is actually the smallest increase in four years giving economists and industry analyst’s cautious optimism about the state of foreclosures. In reality, it is expected that this “decline” is actually due to the severe weather experienced around the county causing a delay in processing. Additionally, many lenders put a national moratorium on filing foreclosures to examine opportunities to help homeowners in trouble. As we have discussed before on SpringsBlog, the shadow inventory to potentially hit the market middle of this year is expected to erase gains and hold appreciation down for the following twelve months until that inventory is absorbed by the market. The Washington Post had an interesting article this week covering shadow inventory and anticipated future foreclosures. RealtyTrac reports that there were 308,524 filings in the U.S. during February. The vast majority (61%) of the filings are concentrated in California, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, and Texas. In Florida and Arizona, 1 in every 163 homes received a foreclosure notice. As a state, Colorado ranks 39^th nationally according to RealtyTrac with one out of every 418 homes in some type of foreclosure activity. This number matches the national average. This is a dubious accomplishment since Colorado has ranked in the top five or ten of foreclosures nationally. Colorado Springs, in particular, is 48% below the national average for foreclosure activity. Approximately 3.5% of mortgages in the city are in delinquency.

In spite of the national picture Colorado and Colorado Springs continues to hold its own. Stay on top of the monthly numbers at Springshomes.com. The Pikes Peak MLS will be releasing March 2010 numbers and we will have a complete analysis up by the 10^th of April. Check us out monthly for the latest numbers.