Housing inventories fell last month in almost all Indianapolis-area submarkets, according to a monthly report on local residential real estate, fueling hope that the market will continue improving as supply falls to healthy levels. The number of homes for sale in Marion and 12 surrounding central Indiana counties in May was 17,167, a drop of a little more than 16 percent from May of last year, said the report issued by Landrigan & Co. Realtors. Among the most dramatic year-over-year improvements: The supply of downtown homes for sale fell from almost 28 months to just less than a 17-month supply. Several loan servicers have not modified a single loan In total, just 9% of eligible homeowners who are delinquent have gotten a trial mortgage modification under a federal program, according to a report Tuesday by the Treasury Department. The report lists the modification progress of major lenders since the Obama administration first announced a $75 billion housing recovery plan in March. Among major lenders, Bank of America (BAC) trails other servicers in the number of mortgage modifications it has made: It has modified only 4% of the eligible mortgages in its portfolio that are 60 or more days delinquent. In the lead is JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which has begun trial modifications for 20% of eligible homeowners. Wells Fargo (WFC) has started modifications for 6% of eligible mortgage holders.Bankruptcy filings may hit 1.4 million Personal bankruptcies show no sign of abating after rising more than a third this year and may hit 1.4 million by Dec. 31 as jobs are lost and loans are harder to get, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. More than 126,000 consumers filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. last month, 34% more than in July 2008, the ABI said in its latest report. The increase came after a 36.5% rise in personal bankruptcies in the first six months, to 675,351, according to the ABI research group, which interprets data collected by the National Bankruptcy Research Center. Mortgage applications up 16% from a year ago The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that mortgage loan applications fell a seasonally adjusted 3.5% the week ended Aug. 7 from the previous week, although they are up 16.1% from the same week a year ago. The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 1.1% from a week ago — its third gain in four weeks. The refinance index fell 7.2%, which the MBA attributed to an increase in the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate; last week, refinance applications rose 7.2%. |
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