– The number of underwater borrowers declined by 16%
\nin the first three months of 2017
\n– 350,000 borrowers regained equity in Q1 2017,
\nbringing the total underwater population down to 1.8
\nmillion
\n– The underwater population has fallen by nearly one
\nmillion borrowers since last year, a 35% annual decline
\n– Nearly half of remaining underwater borrowers live
\nin the bottom 20% of homes by price in their markets
\n– Tappable equity has risen by $695 billion from last
\nyear, bringing total lendable equity to just under $5
\ntrillion
\n– Over 40 million Americans have tappable equity
\navailable in their homes today; the largest population
\non record<\/p>\n
The Data and Analytics division of Black Knight
\nFinancial Services, Inc. released its latest Mortgage
\nMonitor Report, based on data as of the end of May
\n2017. This month, Black Knight finds that rising home
\nprices have both decreased the number of borrowers
\nunderwater on their mortgages while increasing the
\namount of tappable \u2013 or lendable \u2013 equity available to
\nhomeowners. As Black Knight Data & Analytics Executive
\nVice President Ben Graboske explained, continued growth
\nin the equity landscape has also improved the net worth
\nof many \u2013 but not all \u2013 homeowners with mortgages.
\n\u201cThe steady upward trajectory of home prices continues
\nto improve the equity positions of many homeowners,\u201d
\nsaid Graboske. \u201cThis is plainly visible in the number
\nof borrowers who are underwater on their mortgages,
\nowing more than their homes are worth. Over the past
\nyear, we&rs quo;ve seen a 35% decline in the total underwater
\npopulation, with a 16% decline in that population over
\nthe first three months of 2017 alone. Home prices rose
\n2.3% in the first quarter, as compared to 1.8% over the
\nsame period last year, helping an additional 350,000
\nborrowers regain equity in their homes. As of today,
\nthere are 1.8 million underwater borrowers remaining,
\nthe first time this population has fallen below two
\nmillion since 2006. \u201cWhat stands out is the disparity
\nwe see in this improvement. As has been the case for
\nsome time now, negative equity has become more and more
\na localized phenomenon. But it\u2019s also becoming
\nconcentrated among a particular class of homeowner.
\nNearly half of all borrowers who remain underwater own
\nhomes in the lowest 20% of prices in their respective
\nmarkets. While the nation as a whole now has a negative
\nequity rate of just 3.6%, among owners in that lowest
\nprice tier, it\u2019s over eight%. In fact, these
\nlowest-price-tier properties are more than twice as
\nlikely to be underwater as those in the next price tier
\nup, and 6.5 times more likely to be underwater than
\nthose living in the top 20% of the market. This is the
\nhighest differential we\u2019ve seen between high and low
\nprice tiers since we began keeping track in 2005. In
\nsome areas, the disparity between the lowest price tier
\nand the highest is staggering. In Detroit, for example,
\nborrowers whose homes are in the lowest 20% of prices
\nare 50 times more likely to be underwater than those in
\nthe top 20%.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rising home prices are also increasing the amount of
\nequity available for homeowners to borrow against.
\nLooking solely at borrowers with at least 20% equity in
\ntheir homes, Black Knight found that total tappable (or
\nlendable) equity increased by $695 billion dollars over
\nthe last year. \u201cOver 40 million Americans with a
\nmortgage now have tappable equity available in their
\nhomes,\u201d Graboske continued. \u201cThis is the largest this
\npopulation has ever been. Growth over the last year
\nbrought the total lendable equity market to just under
\n$5 trillion as of the end of Q1 2017. If home prices
\ncontinue to rise at or near their current rate of
\nappreciation, tappable equity will likely hit record
\nhighs by this summer. Though nearly half of the
\ncountry\u2019s 100 largest metropolitan areas have already
\nreached record levels of tappable equity, as a whole
\nthese areas remain geographically con centrated. The
\nmajority are found in more coastal areas, specifically
\nin large city centers. In fact, more than half of the
\nnation\u2019s tappable equity lies in the 10 largest metro
\nareas. California alone contains nearly 40% of
\navailable equity. While the growth in tappable equity
\nis obviously good news for both homeowners and lenders
\nalike, it does represent some risk as well. Investors
\nin mortgages and mortgage servicing rights \u2013 as well as
\nothers with a stake in the broader mortgage market \u2013
\nneed to be prepared to account for a higher share of
\nequity-driven prepayment risk, as well as an increased
\nchance of borrowers adding on second liens that primary
\nloan servicers and investors may not be aware of.\u201d As
\nwas reported in Black Knight\u2019s most recent First Look
\nrelease, other key results include:
\n– Total US loan delinquency rate: 3.79%
\n– Month-over-month change in delinquency rate: -7.13%
\n– Total US foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 0.83%
\n– Month-over-month change in foreclosure pre-sale
\ninventory rate: -2.97%
\n– States with highest percentage of non-current loans:
\nMS, LA, AL, WV, ME
\n– States with the lowest percentage of non-current*
\nloans: OR, ID, MN, ND, CO
\n– States with highest percentage of seriously
\ndelinquent loans:MS, LA, AL, AR, TN<\/p>\n
For 15 years, Best Buy’s Geek Squad installation and
\nrepair service has served as one key advantage over
\nAmazon that the e-commerce giant seemed unlikely to
\nmatch.But over the last few months, Amazon has quietly
\nbeen hiring an army of in-house gadget experts to offer
\nfree Alexa consultations as well as product
\ninstallations for a fee inside customer homes, multiple
\nsources told Recode, and job postings confirm. The new
\noffering, which has already rolled out in seven markets
\nwithout much fanfare, is aimed at helping customers set
\nup a “smart home” \u2014 the industry term used to describe
\nhousehold systems like heating and lighting that can be
\ncontrolled via apps, and increasingly by voice. While
\nAmazon has a marketplace for third parties to offer
\nhome services like TV mounting and plumbing, these new
\nsmart-hom e-related services seem important enough to
\nAmazon that it is hiring its own in-house experts. And
\nperhaps for good reason. Smart-home gadgets make up one
\nof the fastest-growing segments of the consumer
\nelectronics industry, but they can be difficult to set
\nup and integrate with each other. That hurdle has led
\nto higher-than-normal return rates, experts say, so
\nAmazon is likely looking at the in-home services as one
\nway to lower that number. Perhaps more importantly,
\ncontrolling the smart home by voice is one of the most
\npromising use cases for Alexa, the virtual assistant
\nbuilt into the Echo line of gadgets, which Amazon is
\nbetting heavily on. So it’s not totally surprising that
\nAmazon would make the effort to close the education gap
\nfor these products by sending its own hires into
\ncustomer homes. An Amazon spokesman declined to
\ncomment. Amazon is charging $99 for installation
\nservices like setting up an Ecobee4 Alexa-enabled smart
\nthermostat, though some services are discounted by 20%
\nthis week. Multi-device set-ups that take more than an
\nhour may cost more. In eligible cities, shoppers can
\nbook the installations during the checkout process.<\/p>\n
A full-floor penthouse in the landmark One57 condo
\nbuilding is headed to the auction block after it was
\nseized under foreclosure, Bloomberg reported. This is
\nmost likely the largest foreclosure in the history of
\nhigh-end real estate in New York City, experts say. “I
\ndon’t know of a foreclosure that’s larger than that,”
\nDonna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty, told
\nBloomberg. The apartment, which was the eighth-priciest
\nsold in the building, will go to auction on July 19. It
\nwas purchased for $50.9 million in 2014, with a $35.3
\nmillion mortgage loan from Banque Havilland. It was due
\nto be paid in full a year after purchase, but no such
\npayment was made by the shell company the unit was
\nregistered under. Havilland is now forcing the auction
\nto recoup the funds it’s missing , plus interest,
\naccording to court filings. One57 is emblematic of New
\nYork City’s Billionaire’s Row, a stretch of 57th Street
\nnear Central Park, which in recent years has become a
\nmagnet for new condos courting high-priced investment.
\nOne57 is considered the most expensive of the new
\nbuildings, with record-breaking sales that included a
\n$100.5 million top-floor penthouse. This is the second
\napartment in the building to face foreclosure in the
\nlast two months. A unit on the 56th floor, which sold
\nfor $21.4 million in July 2015, hit the auction block
\non June 14. It’s unclear if the property has changed
\nhands yet.<\/p>\n
Oil pares losses, but rising supply a worry
\nOil dipped on Monday, paring some earlier losses
\ntriggered by rising drilling activity in the United
\nStates and no let-up in supply growth from both OPEC
\nand non-OPEC exporters, but the outlook remained
\ngloomy. Brent crude futures were last down 11 cents on
\nthe day at $46.60 a barrel by 1430 GMT, while US crude
\nfutures were last down 13 cents at $44.10 a barrel.
\n“The market is in trouble and looks very vulnerable to
\nlower numbers,” PVM brokerage said in a note. The
\nOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has
\nagreed with some non-OPEC members to curtail production
\nuntil March 2018 but the move has failed to eliminate a
\nglobal glut of crude. Several key OPEC ministers will
\nmeet non-OPEC Russia on July 24 in St Petersburg,
\nRussia, to discuss the situation in oil markets. Kuwait
\nsaid on Sunday that Nigeria and Libya had been invited
\nto the meeting and their production could be capped
\nearlier than November, when OPEC is scheduled to hold
\nformal talks, according to Bloomberg. Libya said on
\nMonday it was ready for dialog but added that its
\npolitical, economic and humanitarian situation should
\nbe taken into account in talks on caps. Brent prices
\nare 17% below their 2017 opening despite strong
\ncompliance by OPEC with the production-cutting accord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Black Knight – May Mortgage Monitor: underwater borrower population below two million for first time since 2006 – The number of underwater borrowers declined by 16% in the first three months of 2017 – 350,000 borrowers regained equity in Q1 2017, bringing the total underwater population down to 1.8 million – The underwater population has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[193,195,192,53,194,191,173],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":834,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833\/revisions\/834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/team.simplyfreedom.ws\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}