April 30th, 2010 3:44 AM by Richard T. Cirelli
Laguna Foreclosures Jump 66.7% Over Year
By, Kelli Hart, Orange County RegisterThe number of homes lost to foreclosure in Laguna Beach increased 66.7% over last year - the 10th highest increase in the county - recent MDA DataQuick foreclosure activity statistics show.
Though quarter-over-quarter foreclosures dropped slightly by two homes, the year-over-year figures jumped considerably for this beach town where finding a foreclosed home is often like finding a needle in a haystack.
Not so much anymore, in fact, some of these new foreclosures are hitting the beach market now.
The chart below breaks down the number of homes lost to foreclosure in Laguna Beach and the quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year change.
City
ZIP
Median Q1 2010
Q1 2009
Q4 2009
Q1 2010
Qtr-Qtr Chg.
YOY Chg.
Q1 '10 REOs per 1,000 homes
Laguna Beach
92651
$1,250,000
9
17
15
-11.8%
66.7%
1.3
The number of homes with a notice of default filed, which triggers the foreclosure process after one or a series of missed mortgage payments, decreased by 24.4%. This actually supports the increase in foreclosed homes, because some of those homes in default eventually became foreclosures once the homes were taken by the banks.
The chart below breaks down the number of homes that received a notice of default in Laguna and the quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year change.
MedianQ1 2010
Q '10 NODs per 1,000 homes
59
45
34
-24.4%
-42.4%
2.9
Local mortgage expert Richard Cirelli, president of Laguna Beach-based RTC Mortgage Corporation, makes the following observations based on this data:
Mortgage Rate Update:
As expected, this week's Fed meeting has adjourned with no change to key short-term interest rates. The post-meeting statement didn't bring any changes to the key verbiage that some had hoped to see. The Fed did say that the economy is improving, but did not change words from the previous statements that would have indicated they were expecting to start raising rates sooner than later. While not many people expected them to adjust rates at this meeting, some analysts are growing impatient and fear that waiting too long to start raising rates will cause more problems, particularly inflationary as the economy gains steam. This issue is widely debated but was the focal point of this meeting, so some market participants and economists are disappointed by its results.
Overall, the immediate reaction to the Fed statements have been fairly neutral for the bond market and mortgage rates. Rates for 30-year fixed rate mortgages less than $417,000 are still under 5%.