Foreclosures rise at a record rate in July
According to data released by RealtyTrac, foreclosures jumped 7% in July from June and 32% from a year earlier. “July marks the third time in the last five months where we’ve seen a new record set for foreclosure activity,” said James Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s chief executive officer. “Despite continued efforts by the federal government and state governments to patch together a safety net for distressed homeowners, we’re seeing significant growth in both the initial notices of default and in the bank repossessions.” Over 360,000 households with loans received a foreclosure filing in July – the highest since January 2005.
Notices of default, auction or repossession have reached nearly 2.3 million in the first 7 months of this year. California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada accounted for almost 57% of total foreclosure activity in July. “There are a slew of factors showing fundamental weakness on the demand side: tighter underwriting, job loss, investors who’ve been badly burned,” said Stuart Gabriel, director of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. “We have not seen the bottom of the housing market.” The Obama administration’s program to tackle foreclosure has not been effective so far. Analysts say negative home equity, due to falling home prices, is encouraging borrowers to default on mortgage obligations. “It has been more profitable to put a home in foreclosure than restructure the loan,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. “The only thing that helps is forgiveness of principal, and there is little willingness to do that.”
Existing -home sales rise in 39 states in the second quarter
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, rose 3.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million units in the second quarter from 4.58 million units in the first quarter. The NAR said sales of existing-homes rose in 39 states in the second quarter from the first quarter, and in 9 states, sales were higher than a year ago. Seventeen states experienced double-digit sales increases from the first quarter.
Prices, however, were still down from a year ago in 129 out of 155 metropolitan areas tracked by the NAR. The median sales price in the quarter was $174,100, almost 16% below a year ago.
Nationwide, foreclosures and distressed sales accounted for over a third of all sales in the second quarter. “With low interest rates, lower home prices and a first-time buyer tax credit, we’ve been seeing healthy increases in home sales, which are a hopeful sign for the economy,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. NAR President Charles McMillan said: “Housing affordability is hovering near record highs and there’s a wide selection of homes.”
admin Market News update, Uncategorized 7 Months, Association Of Realtors, Bank Repossessions, Chief Economist, Chief Executive Officer, Diane Swonk, Distressed Homeowners, Existing Home Sales, Foreclosures On The Risoe, Fundamental Weakness, Housing Market, Initial Notices, Mesirow Financial, Mortgage Obligations, National Association Of Realtors, obama, Realtytrac Foreclosures, Repossession, Safety Net, State Governments, Ziman Center
A pair of auctions later this month in Las Vegas and Southern California will put the keys to hundreds of REO properties in the hands of first-time homeowners and homebuyers who plan to occupy the property they purchase, Freddie Mac and New Vista Asset Management recently announced.
