Rising Rates Fuel Distressed Sales
Foreclosures are on the rise with over 68,000 new cases last quarter, showing more homeowners struggling to keep up.
While mortgage rates jumped nearly a quarter-point in two days, squeezing buyers and pushing more owners toward distressed sales.
Expensive borrowing is making troubles harder to fix.
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U.S. Foreclosure Activity Increases Quarterly in Q1 2025
A total of 68,794 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in Q1 2025, up 14 percent from the previous quarter and up 2 percent from a year ago. The States that saw the greatest annual increase included Kansas (up 117 percent) and Delaware (up 58 percent).
Mortgage Rates Slingshot Higher as Tariff Uncertainty Roils Markets
The average rate on the 30-year fixed rate jumped 22 basis points Monday and another 3 basis points Tuesday to 6.85%, according to Mortgage News Daily, fully erasing the decline from last week.
“Locked-in” Homeowners Pay Off Below-4% Mortgages: Share Drops to 54%
Conversely, the share of 6%-plus mortgages outstanding rose 18.0% at the end of Q4 2024, the highest since Q2 2016, from a share of 7.3% at the low point in Q2 2022.The fact that the share has more than doubled in a little over two years shows that “locked-in” ends when life happens.
Inventories of Existing Homes in Florida Spike in March to Highest since at Least 2016
Inventory is piling up in Florida. Active listings jumped by 5.9% in March from February, and by 34% year-over-year to 177,006 homes, the highest in the data from realtor.com going back to 2016.
Top 10 States with the Highest Home Flipping Returns in 2024
The largest year-over-year gains in profit margins on flips in 2024 were in Cleveland, OH (rising from 39.% in 2023 to 72% in 2024); Buffalo, NY (83.9% to 109.1%); Rochester, NY (60.2% to 71.5%); St. Louis, MO (34% to 45.1%); and Memphis, TN (58.2% to 66.7%).
Realtors Worry Canadian Snowbirds May Flee the Bay Area as Tensions Rise
Experts worry the market could be seeing a troubling trend of Canadians who have homes in Florida selling their properties amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Canada. Canadians are the top foreign home buyers in the U.S., and 41% of them purchase property in Florida.
