In the following video, from the National Association of REALTORS YouTube channel, consumers learn about the potential safety protocols they may encounter when working with a REALTOR®. It’s a great resource to share with clients to educate them about the importance of REALTOR® safety.
It’s likely that all of the investment in more digitized, automated, and efficient mortgage manufacturing and underwriting technology that’s been made in recent years is beginning to pay off, says Chief Economist Mark Fleming
Santa Clara, CA – June 28, 2018 (BUSINESS WIRE) First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF), a leading global provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions, today released the First American Loan Application Defect Index for May 2018, which estimates the frequency of defects, fraudulence and misrepresentation in the information submitted in mortgage loan applications. The Defect Index reflects estimated mortgage loan defect rates over time, by geography and loan type. It is available as an interactive tool that can be tailored to showcase trends by category, including amortization type, lien position, loan purpose, property and transaction types, and can provide state- and market-specific comparisons of mortgage loan defect levels.
May 2018 Loan Application Defect Index
Chief Economist Analysis: Despite the fact that market share for purchase transactions is increasing, we’re seeing a decrease in defect and fraud risk
“By now, everyone in the mortgage industry is aware that we are entering a market that will be dominated by purchase demand for the next several years,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American. “According to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association forecast, refinance transactions will make up 28 percent of total mortgages originated in 2018 and is forecasted to drop to 23 percent by 2020. This is, of course, due to the current environment of increasing mortgage rates that follows years of persistently low rates. Until last month, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage had remained below 4.5 percent for 80 consecutive months. And since most homeowners have benefited from the low-rate environment, they now have little financial incentive to refinance, or sell and buy again,” said Fleming. “With mortgage rates continuing to rise, the financial value of keeping their current low-rate mortgages is likely to increase.
“The silver lining? Despite the aforementioned obstacles, consumers will continue to buy. Richard Thaler, Nobel Prize-winning economist, is famous for the analogy that we are more like Homer Simpson than Spock when making economic decisions. Lifestyle decisions will still incentivize people to buy, and sometimes that beautiful kitchen is just too hard to resist! Again, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association forecast, the purchase market is expected to grow even as mortgage rates rise, largely on the strength of first-time homebuyer demand.
“With this fact in mind, the most important news in this month’s Loan Application Defect Index (LADI) is that the Defect Index for purchase transactions decreased by 4.6 percent compared with the previous month, is down 7.8 percent compared with a year ago, and has declined almost 10 percent in just the past five months. There’s no better time to have loan application misrepresentation, defect and fraud risk on purchase transactions on the decline than when the market share of purchase transactions is rising.
“It’s likely that all of the investment in more digitized, automated, and efficient mortgage manufacturing and underwriting technology that’s been made in recent years is beginning to pay off,” said Fleming. “Now the question is, how much lower will it go?”
May 2018 State Highlights
May 2018 Local Market Highlights
Next Release
The next release of the First American Loan Application Defect Index will take place the week of July 29, 2018.
Methodology
The methodology statement for the First American Loan Application Defect Index is available at www.firstam.com.
Disclaimer
Opinions, estimates, forecasts and other views contained in this page are those of First American’s chief economist, do not necessarily represent the views of First American or its management, should not be construed as indicating First American’s business prospects or expected results, and are subject to change without notice. Although the First American Economics team attempts to provide reliable, useful information, it does not guarantee that the information is accurate, current or suitable for any particular purpose. © 2018 by First American. Information from this page may be used with proper attribution.
About First American
First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF) is a leading provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions that traces its heritage back to 1889. First American also provides title plant management services; title and other real property records and images; valuation products and services; home warranty products; property and casualty insurance; and banking, trust and wealth management services. With total revenue of $5.8 billion in 2017, the company offers its products and services directly and through its agents throughout the United States and abroad. In 2018, First American was named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list for the third consecutive year. More information about the company can be found at www.firstam.com.
Contacts
Media Contact:
First American Financial Corporation
Marcus Ginnaty
Corporate Communications
(714) 250-3298
Irvine, CA – July 10, 2018 (BUSINESS WIRE) CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its monthly Loan Performance Insights Report. The report shows that, nationally, 4.2 percent of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure) in April 2018, representing a 0.6 percentage point decline in the overall delinquency rate compared with April 2017, when it was 4.8 percent.
As of April 2018, the foreclosure inventory rate – which measures the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process – was 0.6 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from 0.7 percent in April 2017. Since August 2017, the foreclosure inventory rate has been steady at 0.6 percent, the lowest level since June 2007, when it was also 0.6 percent. The April 2018 foreclosure inventory rate was the lowest for that month in 11 years; it was also 0.6 percent in April 2007.
Measuring early-stage delinquency rates is important for analyzing the health of the mortgage market. To monitor mortgage performance comprehensively, CoreLogic examines all stages of delinquency, as well as transition rates, which indicate the percentage of mortgages moving from one stage of delinquency to the next.
The rate for early-stage delinquencies – defined as 30 to 59 days past due – was 1.8 percent in April 2018, down from 2.2 in April 2017. The share of mortgages that were 60 to 89 days past due in April 2018 was 0.6 percent, unchanged from April 2017. The serious delinquency rate – defined as 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure – was 1.9 percent in April 2018, down from 2.0 percent in April 2017. The April 2018 serious delinquency rate was the lowest for that month since 2007 when it was 1.6 percent.
“Job growth, home-price appreciation, and full-doc underwriting have pushed delinquency and foreclosure rates to the lowest point in more than a decade,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “The latest CoreLogic Home Price Index report revealed the annual national home price growth was 7.1 percent in May, the fastest annual growth in four years. U.S. employers have also continued to employ more individuals, as employment rose by 2.4 million throughout the last 12 months with 213,000 jobs added last month alone. Together, this heightened financial stability is pushing delinquency and foreclosure rates to record lows.”
Since early-stage delinquencies can be volatile, CoreLogic also analyzes transition rates. The share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due was 0.8 percent in April 2018, down from 1.2 percent in April 2017. By comparison, in January 2007, just before the start of the financial crisis, the current- to 30-day transition rate was 1.2 percent, while it peaked in November 2008 at 2 percent.
As a result of the 2017 hurricane season, Florida and Texas are the only states showing significant gains in 90-day delinquency rates. According to the CoreLogic Storm Surge Report, Florida has the most densely populated and longest coastal area and thus the most exposure to storm surge flooding (compared to the 19 states analyzed in the report) with more than 2.7 million at-risk homes across five risk categories (Category 1 – Category 5 storms). Louisiana ranks second with more than 817,000 at-risk homes, while Texas ranks third with more than 543,000 at-risk homes. A major storm did not strike Louisiana in 2017, but Florida and Texas are still recovering from Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, respectively.
“Delinquency rates are nearing historic lows, except in areas impacted by extreme weather over the past 18 months, reflecting a long period of strict underwriting practices and improved economic conditions,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Last year’s hurricanes and wildfires continue to affect today’s default rates. The percent of loans 90 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure are more than double what they were before last autumn’s hurricanes in Houston, Texas and Naples, Florida. The 90-day-plus delinquent or in-foreclosure rate has also quadrupled in Puerto Rico.”
For ongoing housing trends and data, visit the CoreLogic Insights Blog: www.corelogic.com/insights.
Methodology
The data in this report represents foreclosure and delinquency activity reported through April 2018.
The data in this report accounts for only first liens against a property and does not include secondary liens. The delinquency, transition and foreclosure rates are measured only against homes that have an outstanding mortgage. Homes without mortgage liens are not typically subject to foreclosure and are, therefore, excluded from the analysis. Approximately one-third of homes nationally are owned outright and do not have a mortgage. CoreLogic has approximately 85 percent coverage of U.S. foreclosure data.
Source: CoreLogic
The data provided is for use only by the primary recipient or the primary recipient’s publication or broadcast. This data may not be re-sold, republished or licensed to any other source, including publications and sources owned by the primary recipient’s parent company without prior written permission from CoreLogic. Any CoreLogic data used for publication or broadcast, in whole or in part, must be sourced as coming from CoreLogic, a data and analytics company. For use with broadcast or web content, the citation must directly accompany first reference of the data. If the data is illustrated with maps, charts, graphs or other visual elements, the CoreLogic logo must be included on screen or website. For questions, analysis or interpretation of the data, contact Alyson Austin at newsmedia@corelogic.com or Allyse Sanchez at corelogic@ink-co.com. Data provided may not be modified without the prior written permission of CoreLogic. Do not use the data in any unlawful manner. This data is compiled from public records, contributory databases and proprietary analytics, and its accuracy is dependent upon these sources.
About CoreLogic
CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) is a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider. The company’s combined data from public, contributory and proprietary sources includes over 4.5 billion records spanning more than 50 years, providing detailed coverage of property, mortgages and other encumbrances, consumer credit, tenancy, location, hazard risk and related performance information. The markets CoreLogic serves include real estate and mortgage finance, insurance, capital markets, and the public sector. CoreLogic delivers value to clients through unique data, analytics, workflow technology, advisory and managed services. Clients rely on CoreLogic to help identify and manage growth opportunities, improve performance and mitigate risk. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., CoreLogic operates in North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.corelogic.com.
CORELOGIC and the CoreLogic logo are trademarks of CoreLogic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
Contacts
CoreLogic
Alyson Austin
Corporate Communications
(949) 214-1414
newsmedia@corelogic.com
or
INK Communications
Allyse Sanchez
(925) 548-2535
corelogic@ink-co.com