Dismal Job Market Drives Up Foreclosures

Foreclosure activity has risen in the past month, taking into consideration notice of defaults, scheduled auction and repossessions.  In July action was forced on 325,229 properties, with one in every 397 housing units getting a foreclosure filing!!! Housing recovery!!?? I don’t think so…

Home Ownership Hits 11 Year Low

Home Ownership Hits an 11 Year Low

Americans who own their own homes has dropped to an all time low since 1999.  The home ownership rate fell to 66.9% in the second quarter of 2010.  The number of vacant homes  fell in the second quarter, to 2.5%. Meanwhile, the vacancy rate in rental homes stayed steady at 10.6%.  What are your thoughts?

2011 Home Prices to Drop Below 2009 Values

What will 2011 home prices be?

This is the news that many homeowners have been dreading, yet it has seemed like it was inevitable.   Altos Research states, “home prices will continue to decline through the rest of 2010 and start 2011 slightly lower than 2009.

The primary reason that we will be seeing a drop is due to shadow inventory, these are due to the homes that will be in default in the coming months.   Because we can’t estimate the number of homes that are in shadow inventory, it is difficult to say when the housing market will begin to recover.   Let’s hope to see some growth soon!

Underwater Homeowners Buying New Homes

Underwater Homeowners Purchasing New Homes

Blame the America dream for the ingenuity in this new trend that we are now seeing.  People are fixated on the fact of owning a home, even if they are currently upside down on their existing property.   Some people are trying to sell their existing homes at a loss (short sale) and purchase bigger homes at a similar cost in today’s market.

Some experts say it makes a lot of sense, since homeowners can get out of bad, old mortgages and get into fresh, larger ones, without raising their monthly payment much. That’s because home prices have dropped and interest rates have gone so low.  What are your thoughts?

Foreclosures Slowing Down

Are foreclosures slowing down?

Foreclosures nationwide have dropped 2% in February, compared to the prior month.  The big question on everyone’s mind is if foreclosures are actually coming to a slow stand still.  Even though we are seeing foreclosures gradually slow down, there are several factors that can be covering the reality of the situation. This is in part due to all the government programs that are attempting to stop foreclosures, when in reality they might just be delaying the inevitable.  Lenders are creating delays by not proceeding with foreclosures as soon as borrowers are in default.  The evaluation period of defaults and foreclosures is what is casting a long delay on these properties going into foreclosure.

California is still leading the pack with about 1 in every 195 homes receiving foreclosure filings.  The number of homes that have been taken back from the banks have fallen from 87,648 in January to 78,683 in February.

For the most part, once homes are back on the market they are not having any problem selling.  Only time will tell if any of these government programs are actually going to work or are just delaying the foreclosure process in general.

Lender

A lender is a private or public entity which loans money to borrowers.

Deficiency Judgement

A deficiency judgment is a judgment is when a lien is held against a borrowers.  This happens when the foreclosure sale does not produce enough money for the mortgage to be paid in full.  Generally, the lender may come after you for this deficiency depending on whether or not this is a non-recourse loan.

Loan Modification

WHY USE HOUSING ASSIST FOR MY LOAN MODIFICATION???

Loan Modification is a process whereby a homeowner’s mortgage is modified and both lender and homeowner are bound by the new terms. The most common modifications are lowering the interest rate, reducing the principal balance, ‘fixing’ adjustable interest rates, increasing the loan term, forgiveness of payment defaults & fees, or any combination of these.

• HousingAssist.com will assess  your ability to pay your mortgage through the analysis of wage statements, investment accounts, bank accounts and tax returns, among other data.
• Then we will make a detailed proposal to your lending institutions for restructuring of mortgage terms in a fashion that will enhance the likelihood of repayment.
• HousingAssist.com will negotiate on your behalf.
• We have built strong relationships with all lenders.
• We are also hired by these lenders to help salvage troubled loans.
• Mortgage Companies have an interest in offering concessions to troubled borrowers because of the extremely high cost of foreclosures.
• Lenders do not want to take possession of illiquid real estate, especially in falling markets.

The loan modification plan focuses on people who are behind in their payments or are at risk of default.
Federal officials clarified the definition of “at risk” as those: suffering serious hardships, declines in income or increase in expenses; facing an interest rate hike; having high mortgage debt compared to income; owing more than their house is worth, or demonstrating other reasons for being close to default.
To participate in the loan modification plan, borrowers must:

• have obtained their mortgage before Jan. 1, 2009;
• have a primary mortgage of less than $729,500;
• live in the property;
• fully document their income by providing tax returns and pay stubs;
• sign a statement of financial hardship;
• go for counseling if their total household debt – including auto loans, credit cards and alimony – totals more than 55% of their income.

The modification program will be in effect until the end of 2012, but loans can only be adjusted once.

Call HousingAssist.com Today @ 888-877-0078 for a FREE analysis of your situation.

Foreclosure

Foreclosure is when the lender issues a court ordered termination of a mortgagor’s property.  This will usually happen when the borrower defaults, and is unable to make their mortgage payments moving forward.  In the past 2 years we have seen the number of foreclosures sky rocket, due to sub-prime lending.   The bank will then repossess the property and sell in in an auction.

California Defaults Slow in Q409: Data Quick

The flow of California homes entering the foreclosure pipeline slowed in Q409, another sign that the troubles in hard-hit areas are dissipating into more expensive and previously insulated areas, according the MDA DataQuick.

The San Diego-based real estate information service reported 84,568 Notices of Default (NODs) in California in Q409, down 24.3% from 111,689 in the previous quarter. It’s still a 12.4% increase from 75,230 in Q408.

California NODs reached an all-time high in the first quarter of 2009 when MDA DataQuick reported 135,431 filings. That number was inflated because of activity put off from the previous four months. The low came in Q304 at 12,417 filings.

“Clearly, many lenders and servicers have concluded that the traditional foreclosure process isn’t necessarily the best way to process market distress, and that losses may be mitigated with so-called short sales or when loan terms are renegotiated with homeowners,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

Ari Afshar of Housing Assist of America, a short sale company in Los Angeles, told HousingWire that short sales are, indeed, picking up.

“We are seeing a huge increase in short sales and this is mainly due to the fact that so many potential modification candidates have been turned down. Being that they would do most anything to avoid a foreclosure, they naturally have been turning to short sales as the next best option,” Afshar said.

Most of the loans that fell into default in Q409 originated in early 2007, but the median origination month was July 2006, the same month for the previous three quarters and even the last quarter of 2008. It means the foreclosure process moved through one month of bad loans in the last year.

“Mid 2006 was clearly the worst of the ‘loans gone wild’ period and it’s taking a long time to work through them. We’re also watching foreclosure activity start to move into more established mid-level and high-end neighborhoods,” Walsh said. “Homeowners there were able to make their payments longer than homeowners in entry-level neighborhoods, but because of the recession and job losses, that’s changing. Foreclosure activity is a lagging indicator of distress.”

The foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac came to the same conclusion in its 2009 in its year-end 2009 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report. Although the sand states California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona continue to lead in foreclosure activity, cities like Seattle, Washington and others in Oregon are creeping up the list.

In California, the amount of Trustee Deeds recorded, which reflects how many homes and condos foreclosed, reached 51,060 in Q409, a 2.1% from the previous quarter, according to DataQuick. But despite the uptick in both defaults and foreclosures, foreclosure resales declined to a 40.7% share of the real-estate market, from 42.7% in the previous quarter. It peaked in the first quarter of 2008 with a 57.8% market share.

The top originators of the defaulted loans in Q409 were Countrywide with 5,588 loans; Wells Fargo (WFC: 28.43 -0.07%) at 3,482 loans; and Washington Mutual at 3,460 loans.

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