Tag Archives: Black Knight Financial Services

Just ahead of Tuesday's S&P/Case-Shiller Indices report, Black Knight Financial Services released its own Home Price Index (HPI) for April, recording a slight dip in price increases compared to March. According to Black Knight, the company's latest HPI—based on April transactions—registered $236,000 for the entire United States, a monthly increase of 0.9 percent compared to March's 1.0 percent gain.

According to the latest from Black Knight Financial Services seven of the 40 largest metro areas hit new peaks in March, suggesting that perhaps a sluggish first quarter is on its way to rebounding in time for summer. Overall, the company recorded a 1.0 percent monthly increase in prices nationwide, bringing the index within 12.8 percent of its 2006 peak.

In its latest Mortgage Monitor Report, Black Knight Financial Services found one in 10 Americans are underwater on their home loans, down from one in three as recently as 2010. "Two years of relatively consecutive home price increases and a general decline in the number of distressed loans have contributed to a decreasing number of underwater borrowers," said Kostya Gradushy, Black Knight's manager of Loan Data and Customer Analytics.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) measure of mortgage application volume saw another decline last week, driving applications down further to their lowest level since the start of the new millennium. “Both purchase and refinance activity fell last week, and the market composite index is at its lowest level since December 2000,” said MBA chief economist Mike Fratantoni.

Black Knight Financial Services released its Home Price Index (HPI), noting that home prices in the U.S. rose 0.7 percent for the month of February to an average of $233,000. Black Knight's report falls between last week's FHFA House Price Index and the S&P Case-Shiller index(slated for release Tuesday), offering a more well-rounded view of market trends for the spring and upcoming summer months.

Black Knight Financial Service’s Mortgage Monitor Report shows the effective loan modification efforts have shown far fewer defaults, which helps those underwater already in homes. However, those looking to get a home that have had some trouble in the past may hit a brick wall as only 30 percent of loans last year went to borrowers with credit scores below 720, which isn’t even close to the subprime score of 620.

Following two other reports on home price changes in January, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its own House Price Index (HPI), pinning monthly growth at a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent. December’s index, meanwhile, was revised slightly downward to show a 0.7 percent increase. According to the agency, the most recent improvement marks the 23rd in the last 24 months.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, released Tuesday, showed a 0.8 percent seasonally adjusted month-over-month improvement in January, topping the 0.7 percent gain forecast in a poll of economist conducted by Reuters. On an unadjusted basis, the 20-city composite index posted its third monthly decline at -0.1 percent. The 10-city index ticked up a negligible amount, meanwhile.

The Data & Analytics division of Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS) reported no monthly change in its Home Price Index (HPI) for January, underlining the question as to where other home price reports—including the monthly Case-Shiller Home Price Indices—will land for the year’s first month. BKFS’ latest report shows the index registering $232,000 in January, unchanged from the end of 2013. Year-on-year, the index was up 8 percent from $215,000.

The Data & Analytics division of Black Knight Financial Services released on Monday its latest Home Price Index (HPI), noting an increase of 0.1 percent in home prices to $232,000 for the month of December. The largest states experienced varying degrees of home price changes: California experienced no change; Florida rose 0.6 percent; New Jersey fell 0.1 percent; New York rose 0.7 percent; and Texas rose 0.4 percent.