Skip navigation
Watchlist Sponsored By :
Housing Video Gallery
CNBC's Maria Bartiromo discusses what to expect next week in the financial markets.
Using options to play the housing bottom, with Mike Khouw, Cantor Fitzgerald.
Discussing whether home prices will go up in 2010, with Kenneth Rosen, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business; Matthew Garr...
The Fast Money traders share their market insight and midday trading advice.
CNBC's Diana Olick has the latest real estate headlines.


Current DateTime: 07:30:30 14 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24355697

FEATURED QUIZZES


Current DateTime: 07:30:30 14 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 33793611
  • The Billionaire BFF's

      Philanthropists. Bridge partners. Hockey players. Which responses are based on facts from Buffett's and Gates' real lives?

  • The Many Myths of Coca-Cola

      Can you tell which statements are true, and which ones are just rumors?

  • Think You Understand Markets?

      We've selected some questions from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's test of investor knowledge. See how you do ...


Current DateTime: 07:30:30 14 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24890560
  • Winterizing Your Portfolio

      If 2009 was the winter of our discontent, will 2010 be a winter wonderland for investors? A lot depends on the recovery—or lack thereof.

  • Investor's Guide to Real Estate

      Some even say the long-awaited recovery is here. Regardless, buyers and sellers alike can profit from our guide.

  • Alternative Investing

      Stocks and bonds? Sure. But it's a big world out there for investors.

powered by digg
Foreclosures Hit a Record; Pending Home Sales Steady
By: Reuters | 06 Mar 2008 | 10:08 AM ET
Text Size

U.S. home foreclosures and the rate of homes entering the foreclosure process rose to
record highs in the fourth quarter, led by failing subprime loans, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The rate of failing loans swelled across most mortgage types but was led by a growing wave of subprime borrowers unable to make payments, the trade group said in its delinquency and foreclosure survey.
David Zalubowski / AP

Meanwhile, pending sales of previously owned homes were unchanged in January, according to a better-than-expected reading from a real estate trade group report.

A record 0.83 percent of U.S. loans were entering the foreclosure process in the last three months of 2007 compared with 0.54 percent in the same time a year earlier.

The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate of 5.82 percent was the highest since 1985 and up from the 4.95 percent seen in the fourth quarter of 2006.

For subprime mortgage loans, the delinquency rate rose a full percentage point to 17.31 percent from the previous quarter. The easy terms of subprime loans drew many borrowers
with shaky credit, and those failing mortgages have stoked anxiety in credit markets worldwide.

Wall Street and policy-makers have worried that foreclosures will grow when many subprime loans face a built-in interest rate reset in coming months. But MBA's chief economist, Doug Duncan, blamed the current spree of failing loans on poor credit quality of the borrower rather than a rate spike.

"The current delinquencies are due to credit quality rather than resets," he said.

The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in January, held steady at 85.9. Economists were expecting pending home sales -- which are
a key gauge of future home sales activity -- to fall by 1.0 percent.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun predicted that the volume of existing home sales will likely hold steady through late spring with a gradual recovery during the second half of next year, crediting higher mortgage loan limits for the expected improvement.

"This additional sign of a stabilizing market is encouraging, and our members are telling us there's been a pickup in shopping activity," said Yun.

But compared to a year ago, pending sales were down 19.6 percent and many analysts said it was too soon to call the market stabilizing.

Regionally, pending home sales were down in both the Northeast and the South and they were up slightly in the Midwest and by 13 percent in the West.

"Forgive us, if you will, but may we suggest that an outsized 13.0 percent climb in prospective sales in the West will not hold up upon further review," said Joseph Brusuelas US chief economist at IDEAglobal in New York.

"Some may be tempted to make a call of a bottom or stabilization in the housing sector, but we think that this is extremely premature. Prospective buyers may be probing the market for deals, but we strongly expect any surge in purchasing activity to a number of months, if not years away," he added.

Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Tools:
Print EmailAdd This share icon
  • digg share

CNBC HIGHLIGHTS

  • Warren Buffett and Bill Gates spoke to Columbia students, and Buffett made the students a startling offer.
  • Brian L. Roberts
  • For the chief of cable company Comcast, growth has been about making deals – generally very large deals.
  • Some companies may start using insurance to shift carbon risk from their balance sheets to maybe... yours?
  • The president and founder of Genesis Today wants to improve America’s health, and thinks Wal-Mart can help.
  • Switzerland's privacy watchdog is taking legal action to force Google to make changes to its Street View service.
  • A wealthy, distracted Texas driver crashed his million-dollar Bugatti Veyron sports car into a salt marsh, say police.
ADD COMMENTS
Remaining characters


Current DateTime: 01:08:03 14 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 01:04:47 14 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 01:04:04 14 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 01:02:14 14 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters