Falling Foreclosure Headlines Are Misleading

It isn't that things are getting better but that recent laws have moved the bar...

RealtyTrac® released its November 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 259,085 U.S. properties during the month, a 7 percent decrease from the previous month but still up 28 percent from November 2007. The report also shows one in every 488 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in November.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1.5 million properties from over 2,200 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

"Foreclosure activity in November hit the lowest level we’ve seen since June thanks in part to recently enacted laws that have extended the foreclosure process in some states, along with more aggressive loan modification programs and self-imposed holiday foreclosure moratoriums introduced by some lenders,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “There are several indications, however, that this lower activity is simply a temporary lull before another foreclosure storm hits in the coming months.

“Delinquencies on loans not yet in the foreclosure process jumped to nearly 7 percent in the third quarter, a record high, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association,” Saccacio continued. ”And more than half of the homeowners who received loan modifications to reduce monthly mortgage payments in the first half of 2008 are already delinquent on their loans again, according to the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision. Many of these delinquencies could turn into foreclosures next year.”

In other words, things in housing are still getting worse, not better. Because of recent rule changes, we will probably see a nice fat surge in the beginning of next year and homes currently not allowed to be foreclosed on and have no chance of saving will hit the market.

For those who think 2009 was bad.....you ain't seen nothing yet.

Comments

[petej:]

For those who think 2008 was bad..... or is this a prediction for 2010?

2008 Dec 14 11:41 AM

[Gtarras:]

This RealtyTrac piece which was published almost a week ago has been brought up by doomsters of all types... I personally have seen it at least 10 times on seekingalpha alone... yes, we got it, thanks!

2008 Dec 14 01:31 PM

[Errol:]

Weren't you the same guy that advised people to start looking at REIT's recently?

2008 Dec 14 05:37 PM