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Mortgage delinquencies rise for first time in 6 years due to pandemic

Foreclosures

Signs such as this were common during the Great Recession just over a decade ago. They could pop up again by next year if people who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic fall too far behind on mortgage payments, according to property information service CoreLogic. File/Provided

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Pandemic raises mortgage delinquencies for first time in 6 years

In the space of two months, the nation's unemployment rate went from a 50-year low in February to an 80-year high in April as the coronavirus swept away millions of jobs.

That put pressure on Americans trying to meet mortgage payments and resulted in the first spike in overall loan delinquencies in May since February 2014, according to property information service CoreLogic.

Mortgage payments 30 days or more past due doubled in May to 7.3 percent from 3.6 percent in May 2019. Those 30 to 59 days past due nearly doubled to 3 percent while payments 60-89 days days in delinquency shot up to 2.8 percent from 0.6 percent a year earlier in May. 

For those 90 days or more past due, considered in serious delinquency, the rate, including loans in foreclosure, edged up to 1.5 percent from 1.3 percent in May 2019. It marks the first annual jump in serious delinquencies in nearly 10 years. The last spike was in November 2010, a little over a year after the Great Recession ended.

More than 75 percent of all metro areas, including Charleston, saw a rise in the serious delinquency rate. Metro Charleston's serious delinquency rate ticked up slightly to 1.5 percent.

Those past due more than 30 days in the Charleston area jumped to 7.5 percent in May from 3.5 percent the same month a year earlier. The foreclosure rate, however, fell slightly to 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent in May 2019.

CoreLogic forecasts the U.S. serious delinquency rate will quadruple by the end of 2021, pushing 3 million homeowners into serious delinquency unless further government intervention takes place.


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Sold sign in Mixson in North Charleston

Home sales across the Charleston region soared in July as buyers took advantage of record-low interest rates and continued to return to the housing market after the coronavirus lockdown in the spring. Warren L. Wise/Staff

Charleston home sales climb 32% in July on low mortgage rates, demand

Residential real estate transactions skyrocketed across the four-county Charleston region last month with 2,400 homes changing hands, the highest number ever for one month.

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By the numbers

134: Number of years since a massive earthquake struck Charleston in 1886, a destructive event brought to mind again after a 5.1 temblor centered in northwest North Carolina rattled the region Sunday. 

168: Number of apartments in the new Atria senior living facility in Mount Pleasant.

6,840: Square footage of a second drug store Sweetgrass Pharmacy is building in Mount Pleasant.

This week in real estate

+ Road work ahead?: Charleston County has decided on a plan to widen S.C. Highway 41 through the Phillips community in Mount Pleasant to make it four lanes with a central turn lane. It still needs federal approval.

+ Parking conflict: Inland residents want access to public beaches while barrier island residents don't want the traffic or cars parking near their homes. The pandemic has brought it to a head.

+ Property values: Charleston County will reassess real estate values this year, an exercise that's done every five years.

Waterfront James Island homes fetches $4.75M 

207 Stono Drive

The home at 207 Stono Drive on James Island recently sold for $4.75 million. Provided/Keen Eye Marketing

The 3,790-square-foot home at 207 Stono Drive in the Riverland Terrace neighborhood of Charleston sits on the Stono River and includes a deepwater dock. 

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Reach Warren L. Wise at 843-937-5524. Follow him on Twitter @warrenlancewise.

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