Can Housing Market Foreclosures Remain Low as Consumer Debt Rises?

Beyond the Buildings

As housing prices remain elevated, it's crucial to examine the other side of the coin, where worries about affordability linger despite the substantial equity many homeowners have amassed.

In a housing market characterized by high prices, soaring equity, and ballooning consumer debt, it is worth examining mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates, which are currently hovering around historic lows.

But what's behind this trend, and what does it signify for the future of the housing market and real estate?

In this episode, host Maiclaire Bolton Smith and CoreLogic Principal Economist Molly Boesel examine the monumental increases in home prices over the past decade, the subsequent strain on affordability, and how these trends have been exacerbated by a surge in mortgage rates and a persistent scarcity of housing supply.

Compounding the market complexity is the relationship between mortgage delinquencies and consumer debt. Nevertheless, amidst these challenges, mortgage delinquencies are at historic lows, buoyed by a robust job market and homeowners' substantial equity cushions.

Maiclaire and Molly unpack how rising prices for essentials like groceries and gas are stretching household budgets and how people can navigate through the uncertainties of potential economic shifts while maintaining an optimistic outlook for the housing market.

In This Episode:

• 1:54 – What is the state of affordability in the U.S. economy?
• 3:26 – How are mortgages affected by overall real estate market trends?
• 5:15 – Why is it important to track mortgage delinquencies?
• 7:49 – How does rising consumer debt affect property owners’ ability to pay mortgages? Is it a leading indicator that there may be more late payments soon?
• 11:15 – What is the status of foreclosures in the market?
• 12:42 – How are mortgage servicers using equity to protect property owners from late payment and foreclosure?
• 15:46 – Erika Stanley goes over the numbers in the housing market in The Sip.
• 17:08 – How have home equity gains differed across the U.S.?
• 19:52 – Are there certain states where the potential for mortgage delinquencies is higher?
• 20:35 – Erika Stanley reviews natural catastrophes and extreme weather events across the world
• 22:00 – What does the future look like for mortgage delinquencies are foreclosures?

Links:

• Hazard HQ Command Central
• Read CoreLogic Intelligence

Up Next: Are Investors and Interest Rates Abolishing the Dream of Homeownership?

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