Home loan delinquency rates hit 4-year high

Delinquency rates on home loans made by federally chartered banks rose to a seasonally adjusted 1.91 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006, a level not seen since 2003, but still well below delinquency rates of the 1990s.

The Federal Reserve reported Tuesday that the percentage of loans on which payments are at least 30 days late continued what has been a gradual rise since hitting a recent historic low of 1.38 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004.  more...

New-home sales plummet in the West

The rate of new single-family home sales in January was an estimated 20.1 percent below the rate for the same month last year, the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today.

Sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 937,000 in January, which was about 16.6 percent below the revised December 2006 rate.  more...

Rates fall, home loan apps rise

Overall mortgage application volume picked up last week as rates on long-term loans declined, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The market composite index, a measure of home loan application volume, rose 3.2 percent last week, gaining to 626.1 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 606.6 one week earlier.

The index that tracks home purchases reversed three weeks of losses, climbing 5.2 percent from mid-month, while the refinance index increased 1.2 percent.  more...