D.C. Region Has Fastest Growing Foreclosure Rate [Housing Tracker]

Quotes of the Day

 

"Another 15,000 Americans will lose their jobs this week, and more than 47,000 homeowners will go into foreclosure. Congress quite simply needs to finish the job, and they must do it now before the Fourth of July recess." - NAHB CEO and EVP Jerry Howard, encouraging the House of Representatives and the Senate to get together and work out a package deal to save housing. (Builder Online, June 16^th) 

“Does this mean that other jurisdictions are now going to look to actively require that servicers bear the burden of the fraudulent activity? It opens up a really slippery slope, especially given the current legislative climate.” - An attorney in the creditor’s rights field on the precedent set in the foreclosure assistance settlement between lenders and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. (Housing Wire, June 18^th) 

"Right now our mortgage would be relatively close to what we pay for in rent.” - First-time homebuyer Elizabeth Trezza, on the now more affordable homes in California—mostly foreclosures—that are enticing buyers back in to the market. (Int’l Herald Tribune, June 18^th)

Foreclosure Data

D.C. Region's Foreclosure Rate Soars.  “Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and Freddie Mac report: The Washington region now has one of the fastest-growing foreclosure rates in the nation, as 15,613 homes went into foreclosure during the one-year period ending in February… Over the past year, the number of foreclosures per 10,000 homes jumped from 23 to 131 locally, while the national average increased from 58 to 87. The sixfold increase in the Washington area tops that of any other region in the report… between April 2007-April 2008, occurred in the outer suburban ring, defined as Loudoun, Prince William and Frederick counties. The average price there dropped by $110,900, or 25%.”  (Washington Post, June 19^th)

Court Offers Homeowners Help Avoiding Foreclosure.  “A new program announced by New York state’s chief judge… calls for the creation of a new section of the court charged with helping borrowers and lenders reach speedy settlements. Homeowners would be notified almost immediately that they face a foreclosure proceeding; they would receive a list of legal and foreclosure counselors who can help them; and they would be invited to court for a settlement conference. Parts of the program would be voluntary. The court would encourage, but not require, a settlement conference, and lenders would still be able to foreclose.”  (NY Times, June 19^th)

Washington Mutual Ends 2 Types Of Complex Mortgages.  “Washington Mutual [will] add $1 billion to the subprime mortgage borrowers assistance program announced in April 2007… WaMu originally funded the borrowers' assistance program with $2 billion. CEO Kerry Killinger said it has helped more than 7,500 homeowners try to avoid foreclosure.”  (DJ via CNN Money, June 18^th)

Massachusetts AG Wins $1.8 Million Foreclosure Assistance Scam Settlement From Lenders, Servicers.  “In a case that likely sets an interesting and complex precedent for lenders, servicers and investors alike, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday approved a settlement between Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office and 10 different mortgage lenders and servicers that had funded or serviced loans used in a foreclosure rescue scam. Coakley’s office had argued that the lenders’ various loans “facilitated fraudulent foreclosure rescue transactions…” The settlement… is designed to put homeowners into the original financial position they were in prior to the equity stripping scam. [and] will provide an opportunity for Sohmer’s victims to reacquire the legal title to their homes.”  (Housing Wire, June 18^th)

Foreclosure-Driven Price Declines Heat Up California Sales.  “DataQuick Information Systems: Foreclosures [are] attracting an influx of first-time buyers who had been priced out of the market or were waiting for prices to bottom out. The median home price in California plunged 30% in May, the steepest decline for any month going back to 1988… Homebuyers are now seeing median prices they haven't seen since February 2004, when it was $322,500. The statewide median home price peaked at $484,000 in May 2007. DataQuick said a total of 33,024 homes were sold statewide in May, down nearly 11% from a year earlier. About 38% of the resold homes in May were foreclosed properties.” (Int’l Herald Tribune, June 18^th)

A Quiet Dealmaker Works for Pained Homeowners.  “In Providence, Rhode Island… dozens of homes are up for auction and dozens more have been seized by banks. And Rhode Island, which has the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the country behind Michigan, California and Alaska, is among the top 10 states for subprime foreclosures. Rhode Island’s housing woes receive little notice compared with the more serious plight of states like Florida and Nevada.”  (NY Times, June 17^th) 

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Comments

[PacificGatePost]

WE HAVE TO RETHINK OUR RELATIONSHIP TO OUR HOMES:

A home is not a piggy bank but an expense.

[francis schutte]

The recession will go on until all the misallocated funds have been cleaned out (Ludwig von Mises)!

[carey_jim]

Absurdly easy loan conditions allowed this crisis to come about and the banks, it appears, as a group, will not be punished by bankruptcy for being so un-banker-like as to offer them.

Will consumers of these absurd loans also be bailed out for being greedy, stupid and in the end, just plain unlucky?

In other words, will socialism prevail over the free market?

Maybe the people who live so close to the seat of government power know something about the unwritten rules that the rest of us don't know?

Just walk away and pretend that nothing happened. Tomorrow is another day.

[oldtrucker]

i have watched the housing market for close to 40 years. i believe that the best way to judge the long term direction of houses is to view the buying power of the population versus the supply of homes. basically if people "ain't making money" then they can't buy. in california there aren't enough house to go around, which priced a lot of people out. that's why house's went through the "roof". unfortunatlly speculators upped the price, but only because they had renters to make the payment's. unlike floridia where they are optional house. now with the price drop those renters in california can buy!

[Tom Lindmark]

The Massachusetts settlement is chilling. Why a lender should be made to pay for a crime in which it did not participate is beyond comprehension.

Perhaps the real crime is that they did not defend themselves rather than submit to this expropriation.