A good day for housing data from both Redfin and Black Knight looking at pending sales and foreclosures in December.
Foreclosures remain well below pre-pandemic levels even as delinquencies start to rise, according to the latest Black Knight First Look report.
- The national delinquency rate inched up 7 basis points to 3.08% in December. However, this is still9% below its December 2021 level.
- Foreclosure was started on 4.9% of serious delinquencies in December, this is up from November but is still 46% below the start rate seen in December 2019.
Pending home-sales, similar to what we saw yesterday from Zonda Economics, were up slightly in December, according to the latest data from Redfin.
- Pending home sales rose 3% in December from November on a seasonally-adjusted basis—the first month-over-month increase in 14 months.
BOTTOM LINE: The housing market is still well below the craziness we saw the last three years and that is probably a good thing. However, even if we are seeing a turnaround it is important to remember mortgage demand hit a 7 year low and affordability is still at a multi-decade low. Things are improving but a return to a normalized housing market could be years away.