The Economy Is Showing Some Signs Of Improving
Friday, February 18th, 2011There is a growing trend of late. There has been a decreasing number of people who are defaulting on their home mortgage. About a year ago, almost 10% of the mortgages were in some level of delinquency. However, in the recent months, that number has gotten quite a bit better. In fact, now that number is closer to 8%.
Although it is just speculation, it probably means that there are fewer people applying for bad credit loans as well. People are clearly getting the message that they need to tighten their belts and operate their personal finances like a business.
Unfortunately though, there has been no change in the quantity of foreclosed upon homes. This means that there are still a significant number of properties that are owned by lending institutions. This creates lower pricing on properties as lenders are more apt to accept lower prices than individuals would be when they are looking to sell their properties.
Mortgage rates for the 30-year loans in the United States declined recently as well. Recently those same rates had been on the rise, so this is a directional change. Recently, the number of people who have been looking to refinance their properties has decreased as well. This is probably, partially due to the fact that interest rates have been on the rise. If the recent change is indicative of near-term future movements of those rates, then you might see an increase in the number of refinancing applications, although there will not be many zero down home loans being offered any time soon.
New home construction has slowed of late as well. new home construction is at its lowest level in two years.
The economy has a mixed bag of information. Some of it, is showing signs of improvement. It seems that although people are making payments on their homes, we are still stuck in a difficult financial situation for the foreseeable future.