Today's topics are mortgage delinquencies, housing starts, builder confidence, and CoreLogic's latest real estate report! Plus much much more!

Mortgage Delinquencies Steady

LPS just released their First Look Mortgage Report report for December 2011. The good news is that the number of delinquent mortgages did NOT increase from November. The number of delinquent mortgages in December 2011 is down 7.7% from the level back in December 2010. The bad news is that 8.15% of mortgages were delinquent in December which still way too high obviously.

The total foreclosure rate for the entire U.S. is 4.11%.  While this is also too high, it is also good news that the number of foreclosures is down 1% from the December 2010 level. And the total foreclosure rate in December 2011 dropped 1.3% from November 2011.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

Housing Starts Up!

The Census Bureau and HUD just released the December 2011 new residential construction numbers. Housing starts in 2011 were up 3.4% from the 2010 level. We still have extremely too much inventory in our area in certain price ranges. Yet there is plenty of new construction out there for buyers that want a brand new never lived in home in Upstate South Carolina.

And the Commerce Department also said that housing starts in December 2011 were 24.9% above the December 2010 level. Good to see an increase in home building since it adds so many jobs and helps the economy. Hope it is the start of a long awaited turn around for real estate.

Builder Confidence Up

It shouldn't be a big surprise that builders are more confident according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Well it shouldn't be a big surprise after the news from the Census Bureau, HUD and the Commerce Department. As a matter of fact, this is the highest builder confidence has been since June of 2007.

Another good sign for the economy and real estate. Let's hope the builders have a good reason to be confident!

CoreLogic's Outlook for Real Estate in 2012

CoreLogic just released a report on the economy and real estate. It is almost funny that they say 2011 was a challenging year for real estate. To me that is almost like saying it would be a challenge to move a railroad car full of concrete by yourself. Challenging is putting it lightly.

I know my ulcer and my bald spot have both grown from the stress of 2011.....

Anyway what pearls of wisdom does CoreLogic have for us?

• 2012 may be the year we begin to turn the corner
• Most major economic statistics are exhibiting an encouraging level of stability and positive, but weak, trends
• Consumer sentiment rebounded strongly in the latter part of 2011, posting a six-month high in December
• In December, jobless claims were at their lowest level since 2008
• Affordability is rising dramatically due to a combination of house price deflation along with rock-bottom mortgage interest rates
• Subprime loans will continue to play a role in driving foreclosures beyond 2012 and into 2013
• Prices of new listings have been recovering over the past few months
• The discount from initial asking price to selling price has been on the decline

I hope CoreLogic is right about 2012 being the year we turn the corner. The key will be continued improvements in consumer confidence in my opinion. Which is not going to be easy since we are well into mud slinging season because of this year's elections.

More Real Estate, Economic and Political News

While we are all glad to see economic development for Upstate South Carolina, what do you think will happen to existing businesses when Walmart comes to Powdersville?

The article says "rally support" but I think it should say coerce or force the state Attorney Generals to accept the settlement with banks over the shady bank foreclosure practices such as robosigning. They should not settle! They should be investigate and prosecute every guilty person to the fullest extent of the law. Please read Federal-State Meeting Planned to Rally for Foreclosure Accord

Not only is it wrong to settle with the banks for any shady dealing when they were rushing to foreclose as fast as they could, the banks should NOT be Allowed to Use the Assets of Hardworking Americans to Pay the Penalty for Illegal Foreclosure Practices

Not only that, but if the people sworn to uphold the law actually do their jobs, they will find fire! Where there is smoke, there is fire! Such as the SEC Charging Bank CEO with Misleading Investors

Not sure that I think principal reductions are the best solution to the problems in real estate but interesting that Fitch thinks Principal Reductions Reduce Mortgage Delinquencies. What do you think?

I might like this idea but considering the politicians are pretty much employees of Wall Street and the Big Banks, we will never see the TBTF Banks cut into smaller chunks. Please read Why it's time to break up the 'too big to fail' banks