Population is growing and moving to urban areas

Our demographics are changing - both in size and location.

The U.S. population is growing by one person every 15 seconds, according to the Census Bureau's population clock, it was reported by the National Association of Realtors. This will increasingly affect future regional home-sale activity and planning of new housing developments.

The country's population isn't just growing. It's also shifting - between regions, states and cities and within them. The trends created by this ebb and flow are changing the dynamics of our demographics.

"The trend that trumps all trends is the growing percentage of Americans who live in the West (23.5 percent) and the South (37.4 percent) versus the shrinking percentage who live in the Northeast (17.7 percent) and Midwest (21.4 percent)," the report noted.

"But that's a 10,000-foot view of where growth is occurring. When demographers zoom in for a closer look, additional patterns come into focus that show not only the relative strength of the West and South but also the relative strength of urban environments - and by extension smart growth."

The report also pointed out that as people gravitate inward toward the center of places rather than outward toward the edges, smart growth with its emphasis on focusing development where it already exists is very much in step with the march of the U.S. population.

Historically, the suburbs within the nation's large metro areas have grown much faster than their primary cities. Between 2000 and 2010, the suburbs grew at an annual average rate of 1.38 percent compared to 0.42 percent for primary cities.

The trend is now reversed. Between 2010 and 2013, primary cities with populations of 100,000 or more outgrew suburbs each year, according to the report.

Q. Are home mortgage rates rising?

A. No, surprisingly they are dropping at this writing. Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, showing average fixed mortgage rates falling to new lows for this year as 10-year Treasury yields closed at their lowest level since May 2013.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.80 percent with an average 0.6 point. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.47 percent. The 15-year FRM averaged 3.09 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.52 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

Q. Is mortgage fraud still a problem?

A. Yes. In fact, for the third consecutive year, mortgage fraud is on the rise as more loan applications are found to contain misrepresentations, according to the latest data from LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Seventy-four percent of all mortgage loans reported in 2013 involved some type of fraud or misrepresentation. That figure was 69 percent in 2012 and 61 percent in 2011. For the fifth consecutive year, Florida made the list of states with the highest incidents of mortgage fraud.

While overall mortgage fraud is increasing, there has been one big area of improvement:

Appraisal and property valuation fraud is near a five-year low. Fifteen percent of loans contained appraisal and property valuation fraud in 2013 compared to a 26 percent a year earlier and 33 percent in 2010.

Q. Are more homeowners slipping into negative equity with their mortgage?

A. No. Those numbers are decreasing. The number of homeowners who were in negative equity just two years ago has fallen by more than 40 percent through the third quarter, according to data from Zillow.

Approximately 8.7 million homeowners remain trapped under water on their mortgages, it was reported. However, the overall negative equity rate dropped to 16.9 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage in the third quarter, down from 21 percent a year ago. The peak was seen in early 2012, at 31.4 percent.

Q. Will mortgage rates rise significantly this year?

A. The Federal Reserve announced that it intends to take a slow approach to raising interest rates in the coming year, even as the economy continues to strengthen.

Given the current climate, the committee hinted that it will take steps to raise short-term interest rates in 2015, though it still would not commit to a time frame, saying only that "it will likely be appropriate to maintain the federal funds rate for a considerable period of time."

• Email Jim Woodward at storyjim@aol.com.

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