Daily News 10/24/14

October 24, 2014

Friday – October 24

The foreclosure sector of the housing market received positive news this morning after Black Knight Financial Services reported that foreclosure inventory for September is at the lowest level since February 2008, at 1.76% of active mortgages. However, foreclosure starts rose 12% last month, while the inventory of seriously delinquent loans declined by 25,000.

Fannie Mae reported late yesterday that it appears that U.S. growth in the second half of this year will exceed 3%, which could be a building block for higher growth in 2015. The mortgage provider went on to say that the global economic slowdown has had little negative impact on the fundamentals of the U.S. economy so far. In the housing sector, Fannie anticipates that overall home sales will be weaker in 2014 than in 2013 and sees a moderate pickup in total home sales in 2015.

The Commerce Department reported on Friday that New Home Sales in September rose by 0.2% to an annual rate of 467,000, which was below the 475,000 that was expected. However, August was revised lower to 466,000 from 504,000, and both June and July were also revised lower. The September data pushed sales to a six-year high, but the lower revisions in the three previous months signals the housing recovery remains on shaky ground. Within the report it showed that the median home price fell 4% to $259,000 from a year ago.