Oct17th
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
Recently RealtyTrac, a real estate information watchdog located in Irvine, California, reported yet another doubling in the number of foreclosure filings across the United States. Homes going into foreclosure almost doubled last month compared to September 2006. A total of 223,538 foreclosure filings were reported. This is up from 112,210 in the same month a year ago.
One disturbing aspect of the ongoing foreclosure meltdown seldom mentioned is the negative ripple effect it is having in some unrelated areas. Multiple industries, charities, social services, restaurants, and travel services to name a few are all being affected by the current foreclosure crisis. One example is the sharp increase reported in the number of families using the local food pantries in cities around the country. Homeowners are trying to stop foreclosure and feel forced to reallocate food money to pay their mortgages.
The root cause of the trouble remains the same. Borrowers who took advantage of the run-away real estate market several years ago are now facing dramatically higher monthly mortgage payments and no way to pay them. If a homeowner can’t find a way to get current on payments, the home is then often put up for auction, and if it doesn’t sell, it eventually goes back to the bank.
With the rise of delinquencies and foreclosures has forced the mortgage industry to tighten lending standards, which narrows the number of options available for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage. Homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure by refinancing or selling their homes are having little to no success due to the decline in home sales and prices across the country. If there is any good news coming out of this it’s the reports stating foreclosures are starting to show signs of slowing in some states. Some of the hardest hit states – Florida, California, Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, and Arizona are reporting declines in the number of foreclosures for the first time in many months.
This past August Colorado for example reported a 57 percent decrease in REO filings over the same time last year. These are properties in the final stage of foreclosure where a property that doesn’t sell outright on the market or at auction reverts back to the lenders ownership.
Is it time to breath a little easier? Most experts urge caution and state the foreclosure crisis is far from over. They predict the number of foreclosure filings will continue throughout 2007 and on into 2008 as hundreds of thousands of adjustable rates mortgages reset to higher interest rates thereby forcing some homeowners into inescapable debt.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Posted in Foreclosure Prevention | No Comments »
Oct15th
Monday, October 15th, 2007
A recent study by First American Corporation of Santa Ana, California predicts some 1.1 million people will likely face losing their homes to foreclosure during the next 6-7 years. Adjustable-rate mortgages which were so tempting during the real estate boom are the primary cause for the expected losses.
Putting this to a dollar amount reveals lenders taking about a hit for over 112 billion dollars. This amount is greater than the Gross National Product for most countries, yet U.S financial experts predict the economy should be able to absorb the loss since it represents less than one-percent of the expected $12 trillion in new home mortgage loans projected over the same 6-7 year time frame. While this is good news for the country and the economy it does little to lessen the stress for those million-plus homeowners unable to stop foreclosure on their homes. What is the current foreclosure situation? Another foreclosure record was broken recently as another 286,000 foreclosures were filed during the third quarter. Once again these record numbers were driven by a handful of states - California, Florida, Nevada and
Arizona. In fact the foreclosure numbers across the country showed an overall decrease if you don’t take those four states into consideration.The challenge for a homeowner to avoid foreclosure has become even greater now that more stringent measures have been set into place to prevent another out of control boom real estate market like the one that gripped the nation between 2003 - 2005. Because credit availability has been constrained, refinance options are limited for borrowers. All these factors work against homeowners barely keeping their heads above water as it is. Worse yet is that as time passes the possibility for stopping foreclosure will become harder still.
The allure of homeownership and the greed of some lenders combined to make to make this one of the most tumultuous real estate markets in history. For millions of unfortunate homeowners the worse may be yet to come.
avoid home foreclosure foreclosure news prevent mortgage foreclosure stop foreclosure stopping foreclosure
Posted in Foreclosure Prevention | No Comments »
