All the Real Estate News That’s Fit to RE-Print™
Welcome to our weekly edition of Real Estate Investing News This Week. Here’s the best of this week’s real estate news:
- 2.5 million houses return to positive equity
- Foreclosure starts down 8% in August, bank repos up 6%
- List of improving markets hits new record
We hope these real estate news items help you stay up-to-date with your real estate investing strategies and inspire some profitable real estate deals for you.
2.5 Million More Residential Properties Return to Positive Equity
On Tuesday, CoreLogic® released a new analysis showing approximately 2.5 million more residential properties returned to a state of positive equity during the second quarter of 2013, and the total number of mortgaged residential properties with equity currently stands at 41.5 million.
The analysis shows that 7.1 million homes, or 14.5 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage, were still in negative equity at the end of the second quarter of 2013.
This figure is down from 9.6 million homes, or 19.7 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage, at the end of the first quarter of 2013.
Of the 41.5 million residential properties with positive equity, 10.3 million have less than 20 percent equity. Borrowers with less than 20 percent equity, referred to as “under-equitied,” may have a more difficult time obtaining new financing for their homes due to underwriting constraints.
Under-equitied mortgages accounted for 21.1 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide in the second quarter of 2013.
At the end of the second quarter of 2013, 1.7 million residential properties had less than 5 percent equity, referred to as near-negative equity. Properties that are near negative equity are at risk should home prices fall.
Complete details here: CoreLogic Q2 2013 Equity Report
Foreclosure Starts Down 8% in August, Bank Repos Up 6%
Foreclosure Starts Drop 43 Percent in Florida, Jump 226 Percent in Nevada
Bank Repos Increase Monthly in 26 States, Reach Nearly Three-Year Highs in NY, NJ
On Tuesday, RealtyTrac® released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for August 2013, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 128,560 U.S. properties in August, a decrease of 2 percent from the previous month and down 34 percent from August 2012 — the 35th consecutive month where foreclosure activity has decreased on an annual basis.
The report also shows one in every 1,019 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month.
Complete details here.
List of Improving Markets Hits New Record
By Krista Franks Brock
“The National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index reached its highest level on record in September with a little more than 80 percent of markets qualifying as improving.”
The index, released Monday, tracks 361 metropolitan areas for improvement in housing permits, employment, and house prices. Markets have to demonstrate improvement in all three areas for six consecutive months to make it on the list.
Of the 291 markets that made it onto the latest Improving Markets Index, 242 were repeats from the previous month, and 49 were new to the list.
Five markets dropped off the list over the past month….” >>> Read More