According to recent reports serious mortgage delinquencies are down for the first time in three years. Some believe this could the case due to the tax refunds that homeowners recently received, which could effect whether this figure will continue to decline. There is still a chance that many people will re-default on their loans in the coming months.

Filings of foreclosures are slowing in the largest metro areas, but according to experts this is not a sign of healing. Most of these metro areas are in States like California, Florida and Arizona, where many people still owe much more on their house then it is actually worth. It will take a decent amount of time before there is a significant change in the housing market.

The housing market in Southern California showed signs of improvement in March with sale prices increasing. It helps that people are rushing to buy before the federal tax incentive expires, that along with low interest rates make it a good time for buyers. The prices of new and pre-owned homes jumped 14% last month, which is a reassuring increase for a market that has faltered so much over the last few years. Though many experts are still mixed on whether this is a sign of the market improving, as many believe that more foreclosures are on the way.

In California the banks have increased the number of homes they pushed into foreclosure by nearly 20% in February. Although there are more people facing foreclosure, there are fewer people actually losing their homes. Mainly thanks to the Obama Administrations plan to help troubled homeowners.

If you are trying to go through a loan modification you are aware of what a difficult process it can be. If you are going through a loan modification with Chase it is nearly impossible. According to the nonprofit news outfit ProPublica, over 97,000 homeowners have been stuck in a trial loan modification, and 60,000 of those 97,000 have a loan through Chase.

According to an L.A. Times article, Chase spokesman Thomas A. Kelly said he hadn’t seen the ProPublica report. However, he said the New York bank “calls borrowers up to 36 times, sends up to 15 mailings and then knocks on their doors twice to try and get the documents we need.

According the list that RealtyTrac recently released sun belt states and cities continue to top the list for foreclosures. According to the L.A. Times. “Cities in four Sun Belt states swept the top 20 list of metro areas ravaged by repossessed homes, according real estate website RealtyTrac’s report.” The city with the biggest foreclosure problem was Las Vegas, Nevada which has had one of the highest foreclosure rates since the beginning of the down turn.

California cities such as Merced, Bakersfield, Stockton, Modesto, and San Bernardino continue to remain high on the list.

There has been an large increase of delinquencies in home equity loans and lines of credit. Oddly there has been a decrease in delinquencies in other types of consumer loans such as for cars, home improvements and even boats and recreational vehicles.

The news of the delinquencies comes as Freddie Mac reports that the 30 year fixed mortgage rate has remained above 5%.

Financial author Roger Lowenstein brought up a good point in his recent article in the New York Times Magazine.

People used to do anything and everything to keep their home, but nowadays it seems as though people are more willing to let go of their homes in order to keep their money. He argues that this isn’t being irresponsible, and that when people are faced with this problem they maybe be better off handing the house over to the bank.

Home sales have seen a reassuring increase this last month, with sales at levels we haven’t seen in three years. Many believe its a sign that federal support has done its job. It is estimated that nearly 2 million home buyers took advantage of the First-time buyer tax credit so far, and its expected that nearly 2.4 will use it in the next year.

According to a LATimes Article, “Sales are now up 46% from the bottom in January, but down 10% from the peak more than four years ago. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 6.25 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.”

The Obama administration is working to make trial home modifications a permanent transaction rather than temporary.  There has been a lot of talk and ridicule recently of how the banks have handled modifications thus far. In an LA Times article, Assistant Treasury Secretary Michael Barr said, “In our judgment, servicers to date have not done a good enough job in bringing people a permanent modification solution.”

According to reports, about 375,000 of the trial modifications are eligible to be made permanent by the end of the year. The government is pushing for these people to receive the attention they deserve.