Mark Godleski

Mortgage delinquencies double in Southern California

Demand for Orange County Homes dropped by another 26% over the last 4 weeks! We only opened 1172 new escrows during April. Orange County demand has not been this low since January 2008; and this is the lowest ‘April demand’ on record! You could argue it’s amazing that we’re selling anything, considering the situation. But we are. Folks are viewing homes; escrows are opening and homes are selling, just in much reduced numbers.

Orange County demand may have bottomed out:

Mortgage rates are at record lows, but borrowers hoping to take advantage are running into the toughest loan approval standards in years. Over the past month, lenders have put in place higher credit score and down payment requirements, and in some cases stopped issuing certain types of loans altogether. One model showing mortgage credit availability has plunged by more than 25% since the U.S. outbreak of the virus. Already, mortgage refinances are coming in at a much slower... pace than analysts would expect, considering the rock-bottom borrowing rates. JPMorgan Chase & Co. tightened its standards last month, requiring borrowers to have minimum credit scores of 700 and to make down payments of 20% of the home price on most mortgages, including refinances. Wells Fargo no longer is letting borrowers refinance their mortgages while cashing out home equity, and both Wells and JPMorgan have suspended new home equity lines of credit. See more

Asking Prices fell considerably, by percentage bracket, over the last 2 weeks. For sale, in Orange County, by asking price as of April 2: Less than $500,000 - - = 638 16%, up 1 point $500,000- $1,000,000 = 1636 39%, up 3 percentage points of the total for sale! and Over $1,000,000- = 1909 46%, down 2 points