MBA Research DataNote Examines Sources of Foreclosure Data

MBA (7/2/2008 ) Kemp, Carolyn
News of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures dominates business news today. Which data are most reliable? That’s the topic of a new Research DataNote from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The DataNote, Sources of Foreclosure Data, provides an overview of the main sources of foreclosure data receiving recent media and analyst attention.

“Definitions are fundamental to any data. When definitions are different, it is extremely difficult to compare data elements, let alone account for data that come from different sources and collected by different methods,” said Joel Kan, associate director of single-family research at MBA and author of the DataNote. “Each source of foreclosure data discussed has its respective strengths and weaknesses."

Kan said a single "best" measure of foreclosures in the United States does not necessarily exist, "but the context in which the data is used—whether compiling local foreclosure listings for individual investors or analyzing aggregated market foreclosure trends for policy development—can determine which sources of data are most suitable and which are not.”

In addition to MBA’s methodologies and research, including MBA’s quarterly National Delinquency Survey, the DataNote also looks at other players in the foreclosure data arena, including:

• DataQuick, a public records information service that has compiled data from county assessor and recorder offices since 1979;

• ForeclosureS.com, an established foreclosure web site with a database of more than 5.5 million property listings;

• LoanPerformance, now integrated into First American CoreLogic, a data cooperative for the mortgage industry, used by secondary market investors and mortgage originators and servicers;

• First American CoreLogic, a data and analytics company that collects property address level data from public records at county recorder’s offices, courthouse filings, tax assessors, sheriff’s offices, newspaper filings, proprietary sources and selected vendors;

• Moody’s Economy.com, an analytics and consulting firm; its foreclosure data are sampled data from the Equifax National Consumer Database, which is a credit bureau database and contains information collected from more than 60,000 contributors; and

• RealtyTrac, a real estate resource website that collects and processes home sales and foreclosure data.

Research DataNotes are a series produced by members of MBA’s research and economics group designed to explain and explore technical aspects of the real estate finance industry.