11,229 homebuyer-client households served. 858 foreclosures successfully avoided.
Every year, the Minnesota Homeownership Center analyzes the performance of its Homeownership Advisors Network and crunches the numbers illustrating our collective impact on our community. This information is always full of interesting data points, and it’s been especially so since the rise and subsequent normalization of COVID. Here are some of the key takeaways from our work during 2022:
- 11,229 homebuyer-client households served
- 83 percent were prospective first-time homebuyers
- 40 percent would be the first generation of their family to own their own home
- 85 percent had income at or below the area median for their community of residence
- 61 percent were households of color
- 858 foreclosures successfully avoided
On a comparative basis, classroom education (including virtual live classes) posted a 16 percent increase over 2021 with 2,665 households served. This is the first year-over-year increase we’ve seen since 2015, when the availability of online homebuyer education began to eat into this figure. Homebuyer advising fell 20 percent to 1,106 households served, but that’s still above the number of households served before the pandemic began.
With regard to our foreclosure prevention work, the number of clients initiating services in 2022 increased 72 percent to 1,259 households, and we assisted 858 households in successfully avoiding foreclosure – up 84 percent from 2021 and the first increase since 2018. In the public realm, Pre-Foreclosure Notices rose 250 percent to 12,167 in 2022. Sheriff’s Sales increased by nearly the same rate, moving from 712 to in 2021 to 1,692 in 2022. Both of these new figures are still below pre-COVID numbers, and the Sheriff’s Sales increase is the first we’ve seen since 2010.
One last item of note to come out of our analysis is the median purchase price, which fell from $204,500 to $184,000, coupled with the average mortgage interest rate, which rose from 3.5 percent to 4.3 percent. This is a clear illustration of the diminished purchasing power that comes into play when interest rates rise. In effect, an average interest rate increase of less than one percent cut buyer purchasing power by more than 11 percent. Given that rates have continued to rise since 2022, this situation will definitely get worse before it starts to get better.
The Center’s complete 2022 Community Impact Report is accessible via the link below.