CoreLogic

First time home buyers are dealing with the worst of the nationwide housing inventory shortage, due to prices of entry-level houses growing at an even faster pace than other properties types, according to CoreLogic.

Bay Area home prices rose in January, and sales dropped again — continuing trends in one the nation's least affordable housing markets.

Sacramento County's median price for resale homes rose by nearly 14% in January compared to the same month last year, though the number of sales slumped from December in a typical seasonal pattern.

Marin County's already inflated housing market climbed even more in 2017, with the median price of all homes at $980,000, an 8.9% jump from the 2016 median of $900,000.

As inflation fears put upward pressure on 10-year Treasury bonds and mortgage rates nationally, borrowers could start to take more notice of what lenders are charging them locally.

The percentage of Marion County, Fla., mortgages that are behind on payments was greater in November than it was in November 2016. This could be a residual effect of Hurricane Irma.

Serious delinquency rates were up sharply in November in both Texas and Florida compared to a year ago, while lower in all other states but Alaska, according to CoreLogic.

Dallas-area home prices were 6.9% higher at the end of 2017 compared with a year earlier, according to a new report by CoreLogic.

Communication between all parties in the chain, from borrower through guarantor, is the best way to minimize mortgage losses after events like last year’s hurricanes and wildfires, according to servicers and federal officials.

Efforts to move out of the Bay Area continued in recent months, with 16,000 residents packing up and taking to the road for cheaper housing and new opportunities.