Banks seize record number of homes in August
NEW YORK — A record number of home owners lost houses to their banks in August as lenders worked through the backlog of distressed mortgages, real estate data company RealtyTrac stated Thursday.
New default notices decreased at the same time, suggesting that lenders managed the flow of troubled loans and foreclosed properties hitting the market to limit price declines, the company said.
Root problems of high unemployment, wage cuts, negative home equity and restrictive lending practices persist, however, pointing to lingering housing market pain.
RealtyTrac sees a record 1.2 million repossessions this year, up from just under 1 million last year, with more than 3.2 million homes in some stage of foreclosure.
Open House U
A real estate roundup of what’s for sale near some of the nation’s most famous universities. Full story
New York open houses used to snoop, mooch ‘Best’ firms for women still not good enough Muslims face growing work place bias
In 2005, before the housing bust, banks took over just about 100,000 houses, according to the Irvine, California-based company.
“It really does look like we are seeing a slowdown of new foreclosures being initiated as part of a means to manage inventory levels on the market,” RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga stated in an interview.
Banks foreclosed on 95,364 properties in August, topping the May 2010 record by 2 percent. These repossessions, or real estate owned (REO) homes, jumped 3 percent in the month and 25 percent in the year.
At the same time, a similar amount — 96,469 homes — got a default notice. Defaults declined 1 percent from July and 30 percent from August 2009 after peaking at 142,064 properties in April 2009.
It will take about three years to work through the stockpile of distressed housing, Sharga said, resulting in a market that moves sideways.
“I do not think it gets any better really until the end of 2013,” he said.
U.S. cartoonist in hiding after cleric’s threat 171 animals seized from Arizona family’s home ‘America’s Got Talent’ crowns a new winner Ahmadinejad: ‘Muslims do not hate Americans’ Tabby’s fur spells C-A-T
Total foreclosure actions last month, including notice of default, scheduled auction and repossession, were made on a total of 338,836 properties in August, up 4 percent from July and down 5 percent from August 2009.
The number of homes getting at least one notice topped 300,000 for the 18th month in a row.
One in every 381 housing units got a foreclosure filing last month.
‘Upside down’ Slowing home sales, after buyer tax credits of up to $8,000 ended in April, could tilt more owners toward foreclosure.
“Fewer buyers means it’s going to take longer to clear out the distressed inventory, the longer you have that inventory the more price pressure there is on the overall housing market,” stated Sharga. “The more price pressure, the more homes are in danger of going into foreclosure because they are going to be upside down.”
More source:
Record number of US homes seized by banksRecord Number of Foreclosed Homes Seized by Banks in May ...
Foreclosure Record: Banks Seize 1.05 Million Homes In 2010
US banks seizing homes at record levels - Telegraph
Random News
- Las Vegas property sales reach five year high
- How to Cure Citrus Leaf Curling Problems
- 5 Ways to Create Ambience with Patio Umbrella Lights
- Now Showing | 'Talk to Me'
- T Magazine: The Fashion Cycle | Linus Bikes
- Sucker Trees
- In the Garden: Ken Smith’s Pod Planters Land on a Midtown Terrace
- Foreclosure deal with banks ‘very close’
- Women face extra obstacles to secure retirement
- An Old Fashioned Favorite, Peonies
Submited at Thursday, September 16th, 2010 at 12:00 pm on News by sofia
Comment RSS 2.0 - leave a comment - trackback