The Financial Regulator known for going after banks who lend unfairly, is going after Medical Debt? When Obama founded the agency in 2010 he said they should be “looking out for people, not big banks, not lenders, not investment houses.” Approximately 100M Americans are dealing with Medical debt. CFPB researchers found that medical bills are the most common form of debt on consumers’ credit reports, and that it is a poor predictor of whether individuals will pay off other bills or loans. Furthermore, the CFPB has found medical debts on credit reports are often inaccurate, and has warned nursing homes against forcing friends and family to assume residents’ debt. The regulators have also pursued debt collectors and shut down a company for pursuing patients without validating the debts. The current head of the CFPB made his name taking on the student loan industry, it would be a big change for the credit industry of medical debt was no longer included on credit reports.
Mortgage Rates – improved slightly this week, the first week over week improvement we’ve seen in the last 30 days. Mortgage Rates are up 0.25% from this time last year.
Inflation –the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index showed that inflation increased 0.3% month over month and is up 2.4% year over year (0.2% moderation from last month’s report). The Core Rate, which strips out food and energy, increased 0.4% month over month and declined 0.1% to 2.8% year over year. If you average this over the last 8 months the reading is at 2.28% – very near the Fed’s target.
Loan Performances – the Core Logic Loan Performance Report showed that 30+ day delinquencies rose 0.2% last month and are up to 3.1%. This metric is up 0.5% over the last 4 months and is worth monitoring. Foreclosures continue to remain near record lows.
Rents – Apartment List Rent Reports showed that rents increased 0.2% in February and are down 1% year over year. This disrupts the 6-month trend of month over month declines, but the year over year decline should carry through to inflation reports and eventually help mortgage rates.
Home Values – the Case Shiller Home Price Index considered the ‘gold standard’ of home values as it tracks values of individual homes over time, showed that prices rose 0.2% in December and are up 5.6% from last year. The index continues to set all-time highs. Since 2019, home values have increased 49%!
Mortgage Applications to purchase homes declined by 5% from the previous week and are down 12% year over year. Refinances fell 7% last week and are down 1% year over year.