Delinquency Rates & Foreclosures

BY THE NUMBERS - Lender Processing Services, Inc., a leading provider of integrated technology, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, reports the following "first look" at February 2011 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database of nearly 40 million mortgage loans.

- Total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure): 8.80%

- Month-over-month change in delinquency rate: -1.2%

- Year-over-year change in delinquency rate: -18.4%

- Total U.S foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 4.15%

- Month-over-month change in foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: -0.2%

- Year-over-year change in foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 7.4%

- Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 4,659,000

- Number of properties that are 90 or more days delinquent, but not in foreclosure: 2,165,000

- Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: 2,196,000

- Number of properties that are 30 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure: 6,856,000

- States with highest count of non-current loans: FL, NV, MS, NJ, GA

- States with the lowest count of non-current loans: MT, WY, AK, SD, ND
BLAME IT ON THE ARMs - Not so surprising, the report noted that "February's data also showed a 23 percent increase in Option ARM foreclosures over the last six months, far more than any other product type. In terms of absolute numbers, Option ARM foreclosures stand at 18.8 percent, a higher level than Subprime foreclosures ever reached."

The WSJ blames the housing dip is part caused by the disappearance of first-time homebuyers.

NAR reports that existing home sales dropped 9.6%, and the median price hit $156,100, a 10-year low. Taking this into account the WSJ says that the stage set for steep discounting in the spring market, according to the WSJ.

THE SILVER LINING - But good news can be found in the rental market, as it heats up. The average US apartment vacancy rates dropped to .5% last year from 8%. This has developers saliva ting over the potential for a multiyear rental boom, since the glut of foreclosed SFRs isn't proving much competition.

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