Most expensive rental markets

New York City -and not just Manhattan has by far the highest rents of any of the 52 major apartment rental markets around the nation, according to the report published at Wednesday. At year’s end, the average estimated monthly rent for all of New York ’s five boroughs were $2,553, according to Marcus & Mill chap, a real estate investment broker based in California. The average for the second most expensive city, San Francisco, was a comparative fire sale at $1,685. New Yorkers and everyone else shouldn’t expect much better in 2007. Marcus & Mill chap forecasts a 6.5 percent rise in the asking price of rents during the year in the New York and a 4.3 percent rise nationally. In the three years that will end December 31, 2007, the company forecasts that the average rent in the United States will have increased by 14 percent, far faster that the rate of inflation.  

U.S mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures mount

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Late payments and new foreclosures on U.S. homes rose in the third quarter and are likely to grow as a massive wave of adjustable-rate mortgages reset at higher interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday. Still, the share of late payments and foreclosures will stay relatively low as the housing market regains its footing in the middle of next year, and have a limited impact on the overall economy, the MBA said. The mortgage delinquency rate rose to 4.67 percent in the third quarter, from 4.39 percent in the prior quarter and 4.44 percent in the third quarter of last year. New foreclosures on houses rose to 0.46 percent from 0.43 percent both in the prior quarter and a year earlier. The rate climbed to 0.19 percent from 0.18 percent on prime loans and rose to 1.82 percent from 1.79 percent for sub prime.  

U.S. mortgage rates fall slightly

MCLEAN, VA, United States (UPI) — Mortgage rates fell slightly in the past week to 6.28 percent from 6.34 percent for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages , Freddie Mac said Thursday. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.24 percent till yet at this time year. The mortgage agency’s weekly survey showed 15-year loans fell to 6.02 percent from 6.06 percent. The 15-year loan averaged 5.83 percent a year earlier. One-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages decreased to 5.49 percent from 5.54 percent, the agency formally known as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp . said. At this time last year, one-year ago adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.34 percent. The five-year hybrid ARM with a five-year fixed interest rate followed by an interest rate adjusted annually dropped to 5.99 percent from 6.04 percent. A year ago, the hybrid ARM averaged 5.89 percent, the mortgage agency said.   

Foreclosures rise in Mass. (Source: Boston Business Journal)

Foreclosures in Massachusetts climbed 66 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, according to ForeclosuresMass.com. The Framingham Company said lenders initiated 4,891 foreclosure actions in the quarter. The 1,731 foreclosures undertaken in September amounted to almost 60 a day. Among communities with more than 50 foreclosures over the past year, the biggest increases during that time have been in Dartmouth (211 percent), Palmer (126 percent), Bridgewater (126 percent), Mashpee (123 percent) and North Attleboro (123 percent). The firm’s data is based on a review of court documents, and includes any properties that have been the subject of a foreclosure notice — even those that ultimately remain in the owners’ possession. “These are record-breaking numbers,” said Jeremy Shapiro, the president of Foreclosures Mass. Shapiro said approximately 13,000 foreclosures have been executed in 2006 and he expected by the end of the year that number would exceed the 1991 record of 17,000.