Dues-Paying Homeowners Stuck in Foreclosure Mess Too - Housing Tracker

Quotes of the Day

"You’re not going to be able to buy things for 50 cents on the dollar… We’re seeing anywhere from a 10% discount down to maybe a 35% discount.” – Frank Norton Jr., president of Gainesville-based The Norton Agency, on bank-owned foreclosure property auctions in Georgia. (Gainesville Times, May 14th)

“At one time, foreclosures were so rare that appraisers and real estate agents would leave them out of the equation when comparing nearby properties to determine a home’s value. Real estate agents don’t want to use them, but when there are four foreclosures in a neighborhood, they have to.” - Jeff Webber, owner and principal real estate broker of Long & Foster/Webber & Associates in Winchester, Virginia. (Winchester Star, May 14th)

“What motivated people to go into the condo market in a way that led to overbuilding was the expectation that it would be easier than owning a home on a maintenance basis. The downside is that your fate is tied to 50 or 100 other people who may stop making their condo payments.” - Sam Chandan, chief economist at the real estate research firm Reis. (NY Times, May 15th)

Foreclosure Data

Housing Woes Lure Back Bold Buyers. “In Cape Coral, Fla., a developer dropped prices by up to 50% on 116 new homes and townhouses and saw them snapped up by lines of eager buyers… Even in the most distressed sections of Cleveland, real estate operators are buying 50-100 properties at a time to try to resell them… RealtyTrac: The number of homes facing foreclosure rose 65% in April compared with a year ago. For roughly half of the 243,353 homeowners receiving a foreclosure-related filing, it was their first notice… Through November, some $20B-$25 billion in adjustable rate mortgages will reset each month… Economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com: There will be 2.25 million foreclosures this year.” (Christian Science Monitor, May 16th)

Collateral Foreclosure Damage for Condo Owners. “Barbara Sanz has never missed a mortgage payment, but the plunge in real estate is punishing condominium owners like her anyway… In Miami, Chicago and San Diego, condo owners are adjusting to the economic woes, sometimes by mowing themselves and working shifts for building security… Many of the numbers compiled on home sales specifically exclude condos, which account for one out of eight homes in the nation, and that missing data may be masking just how weak the housing market really is. National Association of Realtors: Sales of existing condo units were down 26% in March from a year earlier, compared with an 18% decline for single-family homes.” (NY Times, May 15th)

Missouri Foreclosures Up 34% From Last Year. “RealtyTrac: Foreclosures in Missouri in April were below the national trend and decreased from March, but they were up more than 34% compared to April 2007. Missouri had the 20th-highest foreclosure rate in April with one household out of every 860 receiving a foreclosure filing. As a whole, Missouri had 3,051 foreclosures last month, a 9.4% decrease from March, but up 34% from April 2007.” (St. Louis Business Journal, May 15th)

Weld County Foreclosure Rate Second-Highest In State. “New foreclosure filings in Colorado were up by 23% during the Q1’08 compared with Q1’07, with Weld County having the second-highest rate in the state with one filing for every 102 households. A report by the state's Department of Local Affairs Division of Housing released May 15 shows Weld County topped only by Adams County with one filing for every 86 households. The state average is one filing for every 159 households, the report said.” (Northern Colorado Business Report, May 15th)

Nassau County's Foreclosure Filings Rise 113% “RealtyTrac: Nassau's foreclosure-related filings last month jumped 113% from a year ago... The county's 14% increase in filings from March-April this year also exceeded the national, month-to-month average increase of 4%. Nassau last month had 502 filings, which include default and auction notices; 442 in March; and 236 in April 2007. Broker David Farrell, who on Saturday took house hunters on his first Long Island Foreclosure Tour in Nassau, said the higher figures reflect the bigger price increases in Nassau home sales during the boom years. Suffolk's rise in prices had been tempered by new-home construction, but Nassau has less buildable land left, he said.” (Newsday, May 15th)

Bills Open Door To Homeowner Relief. “Massachusetts lawmakers yesterday heard testimony on three bills aimed at providing relief to homeowners ensnared in the subprime foreclosure crisis. The legislative package, being pushed by the newly formed Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending, includes proposals for a six-month moratorium on foreclosing subprime loans and protections for renters living in foreclosed properties. Another bill would require the courts to approve foreclosures. The bills were heard by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary. The foreclosure moratorium would apply to subprime loans.” (Boston Herald, May 14th)

In Empty Houses, Thieves See Copper Profits. “In the past year, nearly all of the foreclosed properties broker Kevin Norton is trying to sell have been hit. Thieves have twisted off and cut out exposed copper pipes in the basement, punched holes in the wall to find the metal, which is usually used for plumbing, and ripped up floors. Scrap copper, which sold for about $0.75/pound a decade ago, now sells for more than $3/pound. Demand from countries with rapidly growing economies, such as China, has pushed up the price. And foreclosures are at a record pace, leaving empty houses that are vulnerable to plunderers… resulting in an "epidemic" of thefts.” (Boston.com, May 14th)

As Winchester Area Foreclosures Rise, Property Values Fall. Virginia: “Winchester Multiple Listing Service: Thirty-nine percent of the homes on the market in the Winchester-Frederick County area, and 10% in Clarke County, are in some stage of foreclosure or pre-foreclosure… In the county, the majority of foreclosures have been concentrated in the Stephens City area because that’s where the bulk of new homebuilding took place.” (Winchester Star, May 14th)

Foreclosure Flood: 1,000 Auctions Per Day In California. “Auction tracking firm ForeclosureRadar: “In April, more than 1,000 foreclosed homes were auctioned off every weekday [in] California. The April total… 22,838 for the state -- represents a jump of 44% over March totals and the highest level ever in California. DataQuick Information Systems counted 47,171 foreclosures in Q1, a rate of more than 500/day from January-March… Every category of foreclosure statistics rose in April. The pipeline of potential foreclosures is jam-packed, too: ForeclosureRadar reported 44,101 new "Notices of Default" filings in April, a new record for California… The majority of these sales received no third-party bid and reverted back to the lender despite the largest across-the-board discounts ever offered at trustee sales auctions.” (LA Times, May 13th)

John Paulson Now Shorting Individual Mortgages of Down-on-Luck Friends in Hamptons. “Apparently a bunch of Hamptons residents have been neglecting to send their checks to Angelo Mozilo’s PO Box these last couple months, former UBS executives included... Erstwhile UBS employee Marc Warren is among the 120 homeowners who’ve had preliminary foreclosure actions (lis pendens proceedings) taken against them for loans exceeding $1 million… Concoran broker Susan Breitenbach says she’s been called by dozens of Bear Stearns employees “desperate to unload their East End homes.” Hopefully they’ll be able to do so, and not join the growing number of EE homes (ten to date) that’ve been foreclosed outright since January.” (Dealbreaker, May 12th)

Report: About Half Of Cleveland's Subprime Loans Ended In Foreclosure. Ohio: “About half of the city's subprime mortgage loans written by top lenders in 2005 ended in foreclosure filings, leading to Cleveland having one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation… The city's five top lenders in 2005 -- Argent Mortgage, Long Beach Mortgage, New Century Mortgage, Aegis Funding and People's Choice Home Loans -- originated 28% of the 15,000 mortgages sold in Cleveland that year. Court records show that 48% of those loans to purchase or refinance city houses have resulted in a foreclosure lawsuit. All five lenders have since been absorbed by other companies or have since gone out of business.” (Tribune Chronicle, May 12th)

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Comments

[Tom Lindmark]

Interesting piece on the homes in Cape Coral, Fla. selling out. Affordability will get us out of this mess.

[special1person]

"Affordability will get us out of this mess."

As long as we have jobs.

During the Depression, housing became very "affordable"... but most people didn't have the money to "pick up" a bargain.

I personally hope the Republicans don't "crash" the economy after President Obama is sworn in on Jan 08.

But since when have Republicans put the interests of America ahead of the interests of the GOP?

The days of "moderate" Republicans like Ike and Goldwater are long, long gone.

[bill d]

1. Obama has about as much chance of becoming president as he he does of becoming the grand poobah in the KKK.
2. Why would the GOP want or need to crash the economy ?
3. The Democrats (assuming they win and every day the primary debacle goes on it becomes less likely) will do that for them.
4. How many days (90 yet ?) has it been since Nancy and Harry mad all those flowery promises when they took over Congress.
5. Anybody care to cite what they have actually accomplished ?
6. All these morons that bash Bush still haven't figured out where the real power is. He can only do what they let him - very convienient to have someone to use to hide your own incompetence.

FINALLY - if his approval is 20% and the DEMS were swept into power by the overwhelming support of the American people then why are things still so screwed up ????

[LTRand]

The statistically average city of St. Louis MO, now has foreclosure tours just like California.

www.stltoday.com/stlto...

Foreclosures in St. Louis rising despite agents claims of "untroubled market".

www.stltoday.com/blogz.../

[Whisper OnThe Wind]

Thank you, bill d. I always wondered why I was the only one asking those questions. I'm not sure where we're really going yet with this election, but I think we've seen the last of UP for a while. I wonder who they think is going to be paying for everything?

[Jack Swanson]

There is no way Obama will become President. I personally would never vote for a black candidate. I do think that Obama would raise the issue of reparation for slaves, and idiot white guilt infested liberals like Chris "I'm a moron" Dodd would go along with it. The West Virginia primary is a crosscut of America...Hussein Obama can't win, and I can't wait until he loses, because its gonna be awesome!!!!!!!

[jjason]

There is something to be said about ignorant Americans. They lend money to stupid people who can't pay it back. Then they buy crap like ipods and complain when food prices skyrocket. They forgot how to walk and then have medical bills from being too fat. They vote Republican and then watch as the dollar falls, oil becomes more expensive and jobs go overseas. WTF is wrong with Americans?

With all the problems that Bush has ignored and McCain has ignored and Hillary has ignored...who the hell do you think could begin to educate Americans?