DC Foreclosure Activity Increases 60 Percent From Year Ago, Bucking U.S. Trend; Q2 Foreclosure Activity Below Pre-Recession Levels in 49 Percent of Metros
IRVINE, Calif., July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s largest multi-sourced property database, today released its Midyear 2017 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows a total of 428,400 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions – in the first six months of 2017, down 20 percent from the same time period a year ago and down 28 percent from the same time period two years ago.
Counter to the national trend, eight states and the District of Columbia posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosure activity in the first half of 2017. Foreclosure activity increased 60 percent in the District compared to a year, while states with an increase included New Jersey (up 2 percent); Connecticut (up 3 percent); Louisiana (up 5 percent); and Mississippi (up 11 percent).
“With a few local market exceptions, foreclosures have become the unicorns of the housing market: hard to find but highly sought after,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president with ATTOM Data Solutions. “More than 38 percent of properties sold at foreclosure auction in the first half of this year went to third-party buyers rather than back to the bank – the highest share we’ve ever seen going back as far as 2000, the earliest this data is available.”
www.wave3.com/story/35927338/428400-us-properties-with-foreclosure-filings-in-first-six-months-of-2017-down-20-percent-from-year-ago
Higher interest rates send mortgage applications tanking, down 7.4%
- Total mortgage application volume fell 7.4 percent last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association says.
- Volume is now 36 percent lower than a year ago.
Higher interest rates send mortgage applications tanking, down 7.4% from CNBC.
Mortgage rates just saw their biggest jump since the presidential election, and that took a heavy toll on demand for home loans.
Total mortgage application volume fell 7.4 percent last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted report. Volume was 36 percent lower than a year ago.
“Rates continued to increase last week given increasing evidence that the Fed and other central banks are more likely to raise rates given the pickup in economic growth in their respective economies,” said Michael Fratantoni, chief economist for the MBA. “Additionally, minutes from the June FOMC meeting showed clear plans to start reducing the size and scope of the Fed’s balance sheet and to continue raising the fed funds rate, a signal of confidence in the U.S. economy and job market.”
www.cnbc.com/2017/07/12/higher-interest-rates-send-mortgage-applications-tanking.html
IMF cuts 2017 growth forecasts for UK and US
The International Monetary Fund has cut its growth forecast for the UK economy this year after a weak performance in the first three months of 2017.
In its first downgrade for the UK since the EU referendum in June last year, the IMF said it expected the British economy to expand by 1.7% this year, 0.3 points lower than when it last made predictions in April.
The Fund raised its forecasts for the UK after the Brexit vote as a result of the much stronger than envisaged activity in the second half of 2016. In October 2016, it pencilled in growth of 1.1% for 2017, raising this forecast to 1.5% in January this year and to 2% in April.
www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/24/imf-cuts-2017-growth-forecasts-uk-us-economy-trump-tax-cuts
IMF Downgrades US GDP Growth – No, Not A Result Of Failed Trump Promises