Posts Tagged with "foreclosure"

January 2010 Foreclosure Report

Friday, February 12, 2010 - By Gate Arty

RealtyTrac reports that foreclosure rates fell in January compared to December, but remained sharply higher than a year ago. This is thought to be a temporary incident most likely a product of the holiday season & office closings. The number of Americans receiving foreclosure notices was down 9.7 percent in January from December 2009, but 15 percent higher than last January. All told, 315,716 properties generated a foreclosure notice. That means one in every 409 homes in America received a foreclosure notice. The top five states in foreclosures respectively are: Nevada, Arizona, California, Florida, & Utah. Which sate had the least? South Dakota is the winner. Foreclosures don't appaer to be going away anytime soon as a report  found one in five US mortgages were “underwater" during the fourth quarter.

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Growing Number of Foreclosures

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 - By Gate Arty

Statistics from Lender Processing Services indicate that as of November 30th 2009, one in every 7.5 homeowners either fell into delinquency or foreclosure. The total number of delinquencies reached a record high of 9.97%, a 5.46% increase from the previous month and a 21.29% increase from November 2008. Loans falling into more severe delinquent categories reached 5.01% through November, compared to 1.52% of loans improved toward a current status.  That's compared to November’s mortgage monitor report, when 4.02% of current mortgages through December 2008 fell into delinquency by October 2009.  The states with the most non-current loans were Florida, Nevada and Mississippi. Those with the fewest were North Dakota, South Dakota and Alaska.

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High-Water Mark for Foreclosures

Friday, October 16, 2009 - By Gate Arty

Foreclosures are at an ALL-TIME HIGH. In the 3rd quarter of this year 937,84 homes received a foreclosure letter. How do you put this in perspective? Well, that means that 1 in every 136 homes were in foreclosure. That’s a 5% increase from the 2nd quarter. It’s also a whopping 24% leap from this point in 2008! These numbers represent the worst 3 month stretch in terms of foreclosures ever. The foreclosure toll this year is reported to be 623,852 & climbing. Perhaps with these numbers on the rise, banks will begin being more cooperative with short-sales? Wouldn't that be rational? Either way, the real estate investors will be back in full-force to pick up REO properties & pre-foreclosures that are indeed priced to sell. Check out investing opportunities at MidFloridaREO.com.

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Foreclosure News - 2nd Quarter 2009

Thursday, August 13, 2009 - By Gate Arty

Foreclosures continue to be the driving force in today’s real estate market. In the 2nd quarter, foreclosures & distressed sales accounted for over a third of all sales! According to recent statistics, the rate of foreclosures jumped another 7% in July from June. This also represents a 32% increase from the same time period last year. More than 360,000 homes with mortgages received foreclosure filings in July. This was the highest point since January 2005. California, Florida, Arizona, & Nevada accounted for an astounding 57% of July foreclosures nationwide! Many factors contribute to the tidal wave of foreclosures like: tighter lending guidelines & unemployment, but chiefly responsible is the negative home equity that many homeowners now have. Many homeowners are finding it “easier” to go into foreclosure than ride out the market waiting for values to rebound or restructure the loan.

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Foreclosure Report - June 2009

Friday, July 17, 2009 - By Gate Arty

It appears that the wave of foreclosures is still building. Nationwide, there were 1.5 million foreclosures in the first half of 2009 alone. This represents an increase of 15% from last year.  Foreclosure filings increased an astounding 33% in June from the year prior. Nevada is still the clear leader in foreclosures. Their foreclosure rate for the first half of 2009 was well over 6%. Rounding out the top 5 were Arizona, Florida, California, and finally Utah.

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Foreclosure Property Search Made Easy

Friday, June 12, 2009 - By Gate Arty

When real estate is discussed nowadays, it seems as if the topics foreclosures & short sales are never far behind. Government and Bank-owned foreclosures offer tremendous home-buying opportunities for investors of all types. These foreclosures are called REO (Real Estate Owned) properties. These distress sales have the savvy investors licking their chops as property values are once again affordable, & instant equity is attainable on a large scale. Now the only challenge investors have is actually finding & identifying great values underneath the mountains of available homes for sale. Well, if you are searching for homes in Central Florida, a new website, midfloridareo.com, has made it easy. If you are considering buying an investment property, or simply looking for a good bargain, I suggest checking out this site.

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Foreclosures in May 2009

Friday, June 12, 2009 - By Gate Arty

Foreclosure filings dip for the month of May. RealtyTrac, a national leader of foreclosure data, announced that filings fell over 6% from April to May.  Although a total of 321,480 properties received default notifications, which represents am 18% increase from a year ago, it is the smallest annual gain since mid-2006. There is a silver lining! Florida is still in the Top 3 nationally in foreclosures. Nevada has the most, followed by California. To put it in perspective, on average there is 1 foreclosure per 398 households nationally. In Nevada, that number is 1 in 64. That is 6 times the national average! California has 1 in 144 & Florida has one in 148.

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Foreclosures Jump in April

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - By Gate Arty

April was a huge month for foreclosures. RealtyTrac, an internet foreclosure marketing website, reported that 1 in every 374 homes in the United States received foreclosure filings in April. Foreclosures spiked an overwhelming 32% in April. An astounding 10 states accounted for 75% of all the foreclosure activity. What is your foreclosure top 10?

1. California with nearly 100,000 filings.

2. Florida

3. Nevada

4. Arizona

5. Illinois

6. Ohio

7. Michigan

8. Georgia

9. Texas

10. Virginia

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Foreclosure Search

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - By Gate Arty

Like searching the web for new property listings? Statistics indicate you are a part of a growing segment of consumers that make their initial property research online. Recent studies indicate that 97% of buyers search for real estate information on the internet first! That's even before they contact a licensed professional REALTOR for assistance.  Well here at gatearty.com, we have added a new feature that we are very excited about. With the overwhelming influx of foreclosures in today's market, there is increased demand for information on new foreclosures. Now you can find them! With our MAP SEARCH feature, you can specifically identify "FORECLOSURES" as a search function. So you can search & receive e-mail notifications once a property comes on the market that meets your specifications. Of course the most up-to-date information is available thru contact with your REALTOR, as the MLS database will feature the properties the instant they hit the market.

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Fannie Mae Loosens Up

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - By Gate Arty

Effective March 1st, Fannie Mae (which guarantees approximately half of the $12 TRILLION of the United State’s mortgage market) loosened loan restrictions on real estate investors & secondary home buyers. This move is seen as a major coup for real estate investors that wanted back IN the real estate market, but were essentially locked out. The new guidelines allow these borrowers to obtain Fannie Mae-secured financing for up to 10 properties. Most recently the amended limit was only 4 properties. Meaning, if you had already four mortgages, you could not buy another property with Fannie-backed financing. In essence, making it nearly impossible to buy & borrow. There are, of course, stricter financial underwriting guidelines. Some things to expect are:

In spite of these stricter guidelines, this is great news for professional real estate investors, and is a major step toward loosening the credit flow stranglehold on the housing market. Now Freddie Mac, the other major player & insurer of mortgages, needs to follow suit.

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More Foreclosures

Wednesday, March 04, 2009 - By Gate Arty

National filings of foreclosure exceeded 3 million in the 2008. Sound like a lot? Let's put this into some context. That figure represents a staggering 81% increase from the already trying year in 2007. What's even worse that that is it's an astonishing 225% increase over 2006. If you are an investor looking for the "PERFECT" time to jump into the market, that time is NOW! With mortgage rates as low as they are, it is the perfect storm for the savvy investor or entrepreneur. The bold buyers must seize the opportunity because markets like this only come around once in a great while.

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Freddie Mac . . . your landlord?

Friday, January 30, 2009 - By Gate Arty

Freddie Mac announced today that it would permit homeowners who have lost their home to foreclosure to actually turn around and rent them back from Freddie Mac.  "Keeping foreclosed properties occupied and in better repair will support local property values and promote a faster recovery in the housing market," said Freddie Mac CEO David Moffett.  

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Foreclosures up Again

Thursday, October 23, 2008 - By Gate Arty

RealtyTrac announced today that foreclosure filings were up 71% nationwide, in the third quarter over the same period last year.  Astoundingly, approximately 766,000 homeowners had a sheriff show up at the door and with a foreclosure complaint in hand! Six states made up for nearly 60% of the list: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Nevada.  Most respected experts believe that this trend will continue well into 2010 as the market absorbs the inventory that is just now coming online.

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Mortgage Insurance

Friday, July 11, 2008 - By Gate Arty

Three mortgage insurance (MI) companies filed for bankruptcy this week. Mortgage insurance is insurance to offset losses in the case where a mortgagor (borrower) is not able to repay the loan and the lender is not able to recover its costs after foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged property. Mortgage insurance is typically required on loans where the borrower has less than a 20% down payment.

Remaining mortgage insurers have been tightening their standards and offering borrowers fewer ways to avoid purchasing mortgage insurance. The MI companies have begun categorizing more and more of the country as a "declining market," raising the requirements and making such insurance more difficult to obtain. Stated simply, without MI, buyers will have to put more money down to qualify for loans - perhaps 10%.

During the previous housing boom, borrowers were often able to avoid mortgage insurance by taking out two loans: one that covered four-fifths of the home's purchase price and a second "piggyback" loan that covered the traditional 20-percent down payment. With this type of lending practice now being non-existent, potential home buyers need MI to buy, and the overall buying pool has consequently significantly decreased.

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Debt Forgiveness

Friday, April 11, 2008 - By Gate Arty

In my last post, I described the short sale process. Some have expressed concerns about the effect the resulting debt-forgiveness of a short sale has on your tax situation. In prior years, any form of debt-forgiveness on a mortgage was considered earned income. Now, however, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 allows a 3-year window for homeowners to refinance their mortgage with no tax penalty on any debt relief that is received. This act will increase the incentive for borrowers & lenders to work together to refinance loans , and realtors to negotiate short sales to avoid foreclosure.  This act only applies to principal (homestead) property.

Click here for more information on the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.

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What is a short sale?

Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - By Gate Arty

A "short sale" or "pre-foreclosure" occurs when a bank (or lien-holder) agrees to accept a discounted pay-off of a mortgage. In other words, the bank(s) will release the lien(s) that is secured on the real estate, upon receipt of LESS money than is actually owed. Why would any bank accept less than what is owed? Well, it must make financial sense for this to occur. Here's a scenario . . .assuming there is an offer, of course!

First off, the mortgage(s) in question is typically in some stage of default. The bank, faced with a mortgage that is not being paid, must decide whether selling at a discount makes better financial sense than actually going through a long & costly foreclosure process. In our current real estate climate (because of the increasing alarming rate of bank foreclosed properties), most institutions are deciding that short sales are a viable route. Remember, banks and other lending institutions are not in the business of owning real estate. They want good mortgages. Foreclosures are not only time-consuming, but they are expensive.

The bank will not accept just any offer, however. They will have the property appraised to establish approximate market value. If they can negotiate a sales price "close" to that figure, a short sale may then be consummated. If the short-sale offer is not considered valuable enough, then they may opt to foreclose, and eventually sell the property on the retail market once they obtain "possession."  This is what we know of as a foreclosure property.

Short sales represent a tremendous purchase opportunity for buyers and especially investors. Since most transactions occur on a distressed level, many sales prices occur below appraised value giving the buyer "instant equity."

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