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Bank foreclosure listings have been slowing in Sarasota County, Florida as banks delay foreclosure proceedings and postpone releasing foreclosure properties to the market.

During the first 2 weeks of October, the number of foreclosed properties sold by banks was only 54, a drop of 42 percent from the 93 units sold off during the same two weeks last year. The level of losses suffered by banks from the discounted foreclosure sales was also higher this year than in 2008. In 2009, banks lost nearly 61 percent from the foreclosure sales, a big rise from the 48-percent level of loss they suffered in 2008.

Because of these rising level of losses, banks have been holding off on foreclosures and have been regulating the flow of foreclosure properties into the market.

According to Margaret Amador who works for Allison James Estates, banks have been delaying foreclosure actions on houses to cut costs. Banks know that they have to pay taxes and insurance premiums and have to maintain the properties once they seize defaulting properties.

So when banks do seize properties, according to Amador, they want to sell quickly to eliminate maintenance and other costs. In 2008, properties in bank foreclosure listings took around 4 months to sell. This year, banks only took less than a month to sell their foreclosure homes.

In the first 2 weeks of October, the median sales price for bank-repossessed homes was $81,000, a substantial drop of 30 percent from the $115,000 price median during the same two-week period last year. According to Amador, banks keep reducing prices so homes do not stay for a very long time on the market.

Banks have also been discounting their prices for higher-end properties, but not as much as their discounts for lower-cost properties. This year, banks reduced their prices for lower-cost properties by 62 percent and discounted prices for higher-end properties by 55 percent.

Last year, they discounted expensive homes by 54 percent while discounting lower-cost homes by 39 percent.

The bank which had the most number of bank-owned homes sold during the first 2 weeks of October in Sarasota this year and last year was Deutsche Bank. For the first 2 weeks this year, Deutsche Bank sold 17 percent of its repossessed properties.

Next to Deutsche Bank was USBank, which sold ten properties from its bank foreclosure listings during the first 2 weeks of October last year and six properties during the same two-week period this year.

Jacksonville foreclosures for sale are expected to keep the city’s recovery at bay despite expectations by some housing analysts that the city will rebound sooner than other Florida cities.

According to Metrostudy, economic recovery is expected by many to occur sooner in Jacksonville than in other areas of Florida because home prices did not overshoot as in other cities during the boom. The city’s shipping port and the presence of military bases are also seen as strong buoys for the city’s economy.

But the continued rise in foreclosures due to unemployment has been dousing positive expectations of recovery. Over the 12-month period ended August this year, Jacksonville employers laid off 23,000 workers, pushing the unemployment rate higher in September to 10.7 percent. During the three months before September, the city was able to hold the jobless rate at 10.6 percent.

Metrostudy analysts said that while the unemployment rate may have reached its peak, a significant rebound in job creation may not occur quickly.

The analysts also said that sales of single-family homes have been rising again, but the still high number of Jacksonville foreclosures for sale has been pushing home prices down.

Anthony Crocco, head of the Central and North Florida divisions of Metrostudy, said distressed sales are still showing their impacts on the market, although home price drops in Jacksonville have not been as sharp as in other Florida cities.

In the July to September quarter, starts for single-family houses declined by around 25 percent compared to the same three-month period in 2008. But when compared to the previous quarter, housing starts jumped from 916 units to 1,020 units, an increase of 104 units.

The Metrostudy report about the impact of unemployment on recovery in Jacksonville has also been discussed in another report on Northeast Florida, with focus on Jacksonville. This report explained the role of the chronically unemployed in the continued rise in foreclosures in the city.

Jacksonville posted an increase of 64 percent in foreclosures in the July to September quarter this year compared to the same three-month period last year, and analysts are not pointing to subprime mortgages or exotic loans as culprits, but the double-digit jobless rates.

Additionally, the effects of unemployment are now spreading into affluent neighborhoods and into commercial real estate properties.

Indianapolis foreclosures for sale declined in number in the July to September quarter, but vacant foreclosed homes continue to be of concern to residents and officials of Indianapolis and Marion County.

According to an analysis of U.S. Postal Service data by Indianapolis Star, around 9 percent of all houses in Marion County are unoccupied, equivalent to about 5,000 homes. Most of these vacant units are also located near downtown.

In neighborhoods such as North Concord, residents suffer from reduction of home values because of the relatively large number of vacant homes in their blocks.

Marion County also suffers from reduction in taxes, as the county cannot collect from vacant properties. Across the county, a total of $73 million in real estate taxes were unpaid this year, much of which were due from homeowners who have left their homes. In one area of North Concord alone, over $46,000 in property taxes were left unpaid.

Unpaid real estate tax is not the only factor reducing tax revenues in Marion County. The decline in property values has also been pushing down tax revenues, as Indianapolis foreclosures for sale and the high number of vacant homes continues to push down real estate values.

Another problem for residents is the increase in home insurance rates, as insurers assign higher risks to neighborhoods with a relatively high number of vacant homes.

In its efforts to contain the problem of vacant homes, Marion County has been spending millions to maintain vacant homes. Just cutting overgrown grass for one abandoned home costs $100 or more while restoring one window costs about $75. Removing all sorts of debris from a lot costs $300 or more per load. To demolish properties that have been abandoned for years and that can no longer be repaired costs the county $2.5 million per year.

Residents living near one block of the Haughville community, where vacant homes are in record number, said most of the abandoned homes are owned by out-of-state banks and by investors who live far from the area.

Several of the properties are owned by local investors who purchased them as rental investments, but who have not been able to pay their mortgage loans.

Among the nonprofits working to restore these vacant houses is the Westside Community Development Corp. It has been renovating vacant homes with help from federal funds.

About $20 million worth of luxury homes were sold in Boston foreclosures for sale at Back Bay. The foreclosure auction took less than one hour, with starting bid price of $1.075 million and average sale price of over $1.35 million.

The number of Brooklyn foreclosures for sale is expected to rise following the New York Court of Appeals’ ruling on the case involving the Stuyvesant Town apartment building. The court ruled that owners of the apartment building should pay nearly $200 million in damages and rent overcharges to tenants of about 4,000 apartments.

Detroit foreclosures for sale is continuing to be a major problem by city officials. Along with the rising unemployment rate, the increasing foreclosure properties in the city is a perennial headache to city officials.

Denver foreclosures for sale is still hurting the local housing market in Colorado. In August, home prices dropped by 1.44 percent compared with the same month the previous year. The LoanPerformance Home Price Index (HPI), which include distressed property sales such as short sales and foreclosures, has experienced a drop but not that big compared with the national average, according to industry experts.

Dallas foreclosures for sale continue to clog the market, dragging down home prices and values. Recent data showed that home prices drop slightly by 1.2 percent in August from the same month last year.

Breaking three consecutive months of price gains, home prices dropped by 0.4 percent in August due to Charlotte foreclosures for sale. Market data showed that gains in home prices were posted from May to July but dropped drastically in August.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has appointed a special rapporteur who will meet with people whose properties are facing Bronx foreclosures for sale as part of the organization’s study of affordable housing in New York City.
Raquel Rolnik, the designated UN rapporteur on adequate housing right, will tour New York for about three days, [...]