Mortgage delinquencies continued a downward trend and were substantially below year ago levels, while sales of existing homes in January and February marked the strongest start to a year since 2007. However, data on home prices changed little from the previous month—marking a fifth month of seasonal lows.

“The data this month show that we’re making important progress in providing relief to homeowners under the Obama Administration’s programs. With fewer borrowers falling behind on their mortgages and some 425,000 families taking advantage of our enhanced Home Affordable Refinance Program – standing to save on average $2,500 per year – it’s clear that the Administration’s efforts continue to provide significant positive benefits,” says HUD Assistant Secretary Raphael Bostic. “But 1 in 5 Americans still owes more than their home is worth. That’s why the Administration’s recent proposals are critical to promoting healing in the market. Our efforts to ramp up economic development in fragile neighborhoods and to expand homeowner access to low-interest refinance options reflect our commitment to turning these markets towards growth. That is why we are asking the Congress to approve the President’s housing proposals so that more homeowners can receive assistance.”

“The Administration’s programs have helped millions of homeowners while establishing standards for better outcomes across the mortgage industry,” says Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad. “Recent expansions of our efforts and the historic mortgage settlement will bring substantial relief to even more homeowners as our nation continues to heal from an unprecedented foreclosure crisis.”

The March Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the Administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:

• Market data show progress on home sales and mortgage delinquencies, but continued fragility overall. Sales of existing homes remained high in February and – with newly revised data on January sales – mark the strongest start to a year since 2007. Mortgage delinquency rates continued a downward trend and are substantially below year ago levels. In addition, foreclosure completions ticked downward last month, although increased activity is expected in the coming months as firms lift processing delays following the landmark mortgage servicing settlement reached with the five largest banks in early February.

• The Administration’s recovery efforts continue to help millions of families deal with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. More than 5.8 million modification arrangements were started between April 2009 and the end of February 2012—including more than 1.8 million HAMP trial modification starts and nearly 1.3 million FHA loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions. The Administration’s programs continue to encourage improved standards and processes in the industry, with HOPE Now lenders offering families and individuals nearly 2.8 million proprietary mortgage modifications through January.

• Over 1.1 Million Homeowner Assistance Actions Granted through Making Home Affordable. Eligible homeowners entering HAMP continue to demonstrate a high likelihood of long-term success in the program. As of February, more than 970,000 homeowners received a permanent HAMP modification, saving more than $530 on their mortgage payments each month. Eighty-five percent of homeowners entering the program in the last 20 months have received a permanent modification, with an average trial period of 3.5 months. Homeowners in HAMP permanent modifications have saved an estimated $11.6 billion to date.

Also featured this month is the Administration’s Housing Scorecard Regional Spotlight on market strength in Chicago, Illinois and surrounding communities. The Chicago metro area was one of the hardest hit areas in the nation following the housing market downturn and an area where the Administration’s broad approach to stabilizing the housing market has been very active.

“The challenges that the national data show for the broader housing market are even more complex in the Chicago market,” says HUD Assistant Secretary Raphael Bostic. “The Administration is working hard to help all homeowners who have been hit hard during the crisis and, as this Regional Spotlight shows, our efforts have helped more than 220,000 families in Chicago avoid foreclosure. But we have much more to do to reach the many households who still face trouble and to help the local market recover.”

The bi-monthly Housing Scorecard Regional Spotlight features data on the health of the Chicago housing market and impact of efforts to help homeowners at the local level including:

• The challenges in the far-spanning Chicago housing market have been more severe than those in most areas of the nation, as a high percentage of distressed mortgages, high vacancy rates, a surge in suburban poverty, and many severely underwater mortgages contribute to continued fragility. Sales of bank-owned properties and short sales remain high at 35 percent of existing home sales in the Chicago market compared to 29 percent nationally, which contributes to continued weakness in local home prices. Moreover, foreclosure processing in Illinois takes an average of 575 days which means distressed mortgages in Chicago remain unresolved in the foreclosure pipeline 50 percent longer on average than in other cities.

• More than 220,000 Chicago households have received mortgage modifications, many directly through Administration programs. Since April 1, 2009 approximately 220,500 mortgage assistance interventions have been offered to homeowners in the Chicago metropolitan area. More than 132,500 interventions were offered through HAMP and the FHA loss mitigation and early delinquency intervention programs. An estimated additional 88,000 proprietary modifications have been offered through HOPE Now Alliance servicers. While some homeowners may have received help from more than one program, the number of times assistance has been offered in the Chicago MSA is nearly double the number of foreclosures completed during this period (111,900).

• The Administration’s Hardest Hit Fund and Neighborhood Stabilization Programs have fueled local foreclosure prevention efforts and market stability. Illinois has received more than $400 million through the Hardest Hit Fund to implement local solutions to mitigate borrower mortgage defaults and address the range of factors that contribute to a family’s financial problems. Moreover, approximately $264.9 million has been awarded to 12 jurisdictions through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help purchase or redevelop residential properties and address the effects of abandoned and foreclosed housing. Both programs have helped provide stability to the Chicago housing market.

• Ally/GMAC
• Bank of America
• Citi
• JPMorgan Chase
• Wells Fargo

The settlement will provide as much as $25 billion in relief to distressed borrowers and direct payments to states and the federal government. It’s the largest multistate settlement since the Tobacco Settlement in 1998.

The agreement settles state and federal investigations finding that the country’s five largest loan servicers routinely signed foreclosure related documents outside the presence of a notary public and without really knowing whether the facts they contained were correct.  Both of these practices violate the law.  The settlement provides benefits to borrowers whose loans are owned by the settling banks as well as to many of the borrowers whose loans they service.

• About the Settlement: Learn about the settlement, who is affected and what claims may still be pursued against the banks. Find links to your state Attorney General’s Office to find state-specific information and contacts.
• Help for Borrowers: Learn how to find out if your loan is affected by this settlement, the timeline for relief, how you will know if you are eligible. Find links to your state Attorney General’s Office to find state-specific information and contacts.
• News: Read the national news release and find links to your state Attorney General’s Web site for state-specific news.

“Yesterday’s court approval of the historic $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement is a victory for American homeowners,” said U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, following the announcement. “We know that when we work together and put partisanship aside we can accomplish big things for the American people. And while we applaud yesterday’s actions by the court, we know that now the real work begins to hold these servicers accountable and ensure that the nearly 2 million homeowners who are expected to receive help and relief actually get it.”

“From day one the settlement was about helping homeowners, and specifically it was about helping those homeowners who suffered at the hands of the practices of these servicers. Moreover, while we know that servicing did not cause the mortgage crises it made the problem worse.

Moving forward, lenders now have servicing standards that will protect borrowers. Service members who suffered will receive compensation and be protected moving forward. This settlement and other critical actions taken by the Administration are significant steps toward rebuilding our housing market and making an America built to last.”

For more information, visit www.hud.gov.

“With the exception of the Midwest, positive growth in rolling quarter-over-quarter prices is an encouraging sign that markets are rebounding from the winter slow down earlier than usual,” says Dr. Alex Villacorta, Director of Research and Analytics at Clear Capital. “Even with the relatively modest declines seen over the last few months, markets have continued to show signs of bottoming out. The projections we made at the beginning of the year are playing out and we expect to see the nation gain just over 1 percent through the year’s end.

“We are continuing to see, overall short term home value strength against the rising REO saturation.” Villacorta adds. “This is an indication of market stability, and bodes well for the continued growth we’re expecting over the rest of the year.”

Quarter-Over-Quarter Results: Is No News Good News?
At the national level, home prices fell a modest -0.2 percent over the quarter. The West, South and Northeast posted gains of less than 1 percent, but the Midwest lost a significant -2.4 percent. REO saturation, which traditionally pushes down prices, continued to climb in all regions.

The nation held fast over the most recent quarter, and for the fifth time in six months, saw price changes of less than 1 percent. While the US lost -0.2 percent quarter-over-quarter, this decline is milder than last month’s decline of -0.6 percent. This positive trend may be attributed to the beginning of spring after a very mild winter, resulting in the start of an early buying season.

In looking at the quarter-over-quarter performance through March, the typically weak Western region squeezed out a minor 0.1 percent gain in prices over the quarter, which is a healthy improvement of over last month’s losses of -0.4 percent, and shows long awaited upward momentum in the region that posted losses over the past five months. The embattled Midwest region, hit hard over the past three months, continued sliding this month losing -2.4 percent, and was the only region to post losses in the quarter or mark any quarterly price movement more than 2 percent. This result shows how the stability seen by the rest of the nation has yet to embrace the region.

The stable Northeast held true to form and turned in a modest 0.3 percent increase in prices, which was a 0.4 percentage point improvement over the quarterly loss of -0.1 percent posted last month.

The South turned in the strongest short term gains across the nation, with prices climbing up by 0.6 percent, due in part to impressive results in Florida, Texas, and Virginia, all of which are well represented in the best performing MSAs listed later in the report. This gain was a healthy 0.8 percentage point improvement over the loss of -0.2 percent posted last month.

Year-over-Year Prices: Nation and Regions Catching Up to Short Term Gains
The year-over-year analysis found the nation lost -1.4 percent over the period, which is slightly better than February’s year-over-year results of -1.9 percent, indicating a positive trend in yearly numbers.

The yearly numbers across all regions show more significant losses than the quarter-over-quarter numbers, which indicates the nation has possibly hit the bottom of a pricing “valley,” with long term prices starting to reflecting the short term strength. This effect could be in play as all of the regions’ yearly numbers, while still weak, are better than February’s results. The consistent theme for the yearly numbers is that all regions are showing losses, with Northeast posting a small gain. This is similar to the condition seen over the past six months.

Interesting Trends in REO Saturation
For the second month in a row there have been increases in REO saturation for the nation and the regions, helping to confirm speculation the Attorneys General settlement has empowered the affected servicers to become more aggressive in moving their REO backlog onto the housing market.

In March, the national REO rate went up 1.2 points since last month and 1.8 points over the past quarter to hit 27 percent, pointing to an acceleration of REO sales. The Midwest contributed the most to the increase, jumping 3.8 points over the quarter to 34.3 percent, with the other regions all seeing softer increases.

Of particular interest this month is how these changes in REO saturation are affecting prices. In the past, there has been a consistent inverse relationship between changes in REO saturation and prices, but not this month.

While the nation and all regions saw increases in REO saturation over the most recent quarter, changes in prices over the same period were positive for the West, Northeast, and South, describing an unexpected direct relationship. The US and Midwest’s changes in prices over the same period were downward, describing the expected inverse relationship.

The geographies with direct relationships show a pricing resilience to REO saturation that has not been seen in previous HDI analysis. It could be powered by improvement in the jobs numbers recently, rapidly increasing investor activity in certain regions, and the general increase in consumer confidence.

Forecast for Remainder of 2012
The forecast models predict the nation’s prices to increase modestly over the next three months and increase to 1.2 percent growth by the end of the year. This shows the valley shape with current prices at the bottom and an upward trend from now (March) through December of 2012.

The strongest of the regions throughout much of 2011, the Northeast, is expected to gain a modest 0.3 percent over the next three months, but pick up momentum and grow prices by 1.3 percent to wrap up the year. The South is expected to perform the strongest in the short term, growing 0.5 percent over the next three months, and end the year with 1.6 percent growth, exceeding the national forecast by 0.4 percentage points.

The forecast shows the Western Region could be turning a corner. The three month numbers show the region gaining 0.2 percent, and pushing that to a positive 1 percent to end the year. The Midwest is expected to drop -0.6 percent over the next three months, but move into positive territory with a 0.7 percent gain by December.

For more information, visit www.clearcapital.com.

While some technologies have been around for years, analysts who follow this market say adaptation rates are picking up speed.

The answer has never been clearer: Buy

In 98 of the top 100 housing markets, buying a home is more affordable than renting, according to the online real estate company Trulia. Only Honoluluand San Francisco buck the trend.

There are several reasons. Home prices are falling. Mortgage interest rates are at historically low levels. And rents are on the rise.

Of course, many renters are not in a position to buy. For one, it’s hard to get a mortgage these days, despite low rates. And paying rent can push them further away from being able to afford to buy.

“Rising rents make it harder for people to save for a down payment, which is the biggest barrier to buying a home that aspiring homeowners face,” Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist.

The nation’s cheapest buyer’s market is Detroit, where purchasing is only 3.7 times more expensive than renting.

Other top five metro areas where buying is much better than renting areOklahoma City, Dayton, Ohio,Warren, Mich. and Toledo, Ohio.

The one number to watch for a housing recovery

Rankings like these, however, can obscure the factors that go into each decision.

Housing markets, even within a single metro area, typically have local submarkets. Take New York City, for example. Renting in Manhattan is more affordable than buying. But in suburban Westchester County just miles to the north, buying is the more affordable option.

The size of the home can also make a difference. In some markets, renting can be a better deal on larger homes, according to Trulia.

The new rate for February was down from a revised rate of 8.4 percent in January, the state’s Employment Security Department announced Wednesday. February’s jobless rate is the lowest since January 2009, when it was 7.7 percent.

Officials said that as a result of the improvement, the maximum weeks of unemployment benefits will likely be reduced from 99 down to 73 in April because both of the of the federal benefits-extension programs are triggered by states’ unemployment rates.

Industries that had the most job growth last month included leisure and hospitality, construction and retail trade. Industries that saw that most job losses included government, manufacturing, and financial services.

The following is a press release by the Washington State Department of Transportation about tolling increases on the State Route 520 bridge.

Toll rates on the State Route 520 floating bridge will increase 2.5 percent in July – 9 cents on the peak rate of $3.50 and 3 cents on the lowest rate of $1.10 – as part of a planned, small annual increase through 2016 outlined in the program’s financial plan.

The Washington State Department of Transportation briefed the Washington State Transportation Commission today, March 21, that this is the first of four annual 2.5 percent rate increases planned through 2015. The rate increase is needed to ensure revenue will meet costs and make debt payments to the bondholders, as required by bond contracts and the project financial plan.

Craig Stone, WSDOT Toll Division director, also told the commission today that SR 520 traffic and revenues are meeting expectations. For February, traffic was 17 percent higher than the plan’s forecast and revenues are 7 percent higher than forecast, Stone said.

“Tolling began Dec. 29 and we’ve had just two months of operation so far,” Stone said. “We’re pleased with the initial toll operations, and we’ll continue on course with our financial plan, which includes the upcoming, small toll increase.”

The commission, which sets toll rates in the state, reviewed the toll-rate increase today and took no action. This, in effect, confirms that the increase will occur July 1. Rates will increase 2.5 percent annually through 2015, then followed by a planned increase of 15 percent in 2016. Any toll increases beyond 2016 would be determined by the transportation commission, which annually reviews traffic and revenue to determine toll rates.

The new SR 520 floating bridge is planned for completion in late 2014.

At the time of the initial rate-setting decision in January 2011, the commission chose to include the 15 percent step increase after project completion, rather than start with a higher initial toll rate, and maintain consistent annual increases of 2.5 percent for the first four years.

With the 2.5 percent change, toll rates will be charged to the penny rather than rounded to the closest nickel. With no toll booths and all-electronic tolling, tolls to the penny can easily be collected.

“Raising toll rates by 2.5 percent isn’t expected to cause a significant increase in diversion,” Stone said. “Trips across the SR 520 bridge have reached 60 to 70 percent of pre-toll levels, which is right about what we expected. And traffic volumes on I-90 have increased 5 to 10 percent – also what we expected.”

The July rate increase affects all rates, whether weekday, weekend, Pay By Plate, or Pay By Mail.