Based on a nationwide sampling of 100,000 addresses earlier this year, the U. S. Census Bureau has determined that 66 percent of households in 2013 were family households, down from 81 percent in 1970. As mortgagedailynews.com tells MHProNews, the number of single-person households rose to 27 percent in 2013 from 17 percent in 1970. Couples are also waiting longer to marry: The median age for first marriage rose from 21 for women in 1970 to 27 this year; and for men over the same period it rose from 23 to 29. As an aside, the Des Moines Register reports a bank analyst at Rafferty Capital estimates 75,000 positions at mortgage companies have been cut this year as mortgage rates have risen. Additionally, as delinquencies have declined, the need for default servicing and collections-related personnel also tapers off.
