Archive for the 'Foreclosure Rates' Category

Popularity of Bank Foreclosures Growing Among Homebuyers and Investors

Monday, March 10th, 2008

With bank foreclosures at such high levels in many parts of the country that the amount of new foreclosures every month is actually higher than the amount of homes sold on the open market, many homebuyers and investors are changing the way they buy real estate.

Bank Foreclosures

The rising rate of bank foreclosures has been both a symptom and cause of the current slowdown in the housing market. During the past decade, investment in real estate in many parts of the country was rampant, and people bought up homes as fast as they could, often times using risky loan packages known as adjustable rate mortgages. ARMs were very attractive for homebuyers looking to sell quickly and profit on the booming market, since they offered low introductory costs. However, as the market slowed, many of these buyers ended up being unable to flip their properties, and instead were left with monthly mortgage payments given to steep rises and fluctuations every month. As a result many were unable to keep up with their mortgage payments, and their homes became foreclosures for sale at auctions.

However, the slow market and sheer volume of bank foreclosures that have come onto the market in recent years led to a situation in which there were more homes being sold through foreclosures than were being bought, which led to many of these properties simply being awarded to the bank lenders who issued the defaulted loans in the first place. So now, in states across the country, especially those with booming foreclosure markets like Florida, Colorado, California and North Carolina, banks are in possession of more properties than they know what to do with.

However, it is not the business of banks to sell real estate. Bank foreclosures are something of a burden for them, and now many of them are selling these properties for below their actual value simply to make some money back on them and reclaim part of the money lost on the delinquent loan. This has led to many investors becoming keen on this situation, and now bank foreclosures are in demand properties, since they can often be purchased for anywhere between 10 and 50% below their true value.

With homes on the open market at already low prices, this creates an opportunity for discounted home purchase unlike any other. Homebuyers and investors everywhere are making incredible purchases on properties in in-demand areas that have the potential to have huge value once the market turns around. Some of the most popular areas for buying bank foreclosures recently have been Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago, where investors are reporting huge deals.

As the foreclosure boom presses on, it is inevitable that more and more buyers will turn to the growing foreclosures market to buy real estate. Interestingly, buying up the surplus homes on the market will also be key to the market’s ability to rebound. Foreclosures bring down the home value of other properties around them, so buying them up will help raise their value and the value of the properties around them. Investors and homebuyers would be wise to look into bank foreclosures if they are seeking low prices.

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Las Vegas Tops List of Areas with Highest Foreclosure Rates at End of 2007

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

As more statistics on foreclosures at the end of 2007 are released and analyzed, it seems that a new city has claimed the burden of being the nation’s foreclosure epicenter, and that city is Las Vegas.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Previously in the past year, Detroit was at the top of the list, largely due to low income families with adjustable rate and sub prime mortgages, as in many other parts of the country. However, company lay offs and a sluggish job market contributed to the cause as well. The Cleveland area also was in the lead for part of the year, for similar reasons. Cleveland was seen as a very interesting case, as it was one of the first cities that saw significant foreclosure prevail over all income brackets and neighborhoods, from the most poverty stricken urban areas to the most affluent suburbs.

But recent statistics show that 7 greater Las Vegas area zip code regions are among the top 100 zip codes with the highest rate of foreclosure in the country. North Las Vegas was the hardest hit of all areas. Officials are blaming this, not surprisingly, on adjustable rate mortgages and sub prime loans issued in the past few years. Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, and during the real estate boom development and investment in real estate were at especially high levels. However, once the market fell off and these home simply sat on the market losing value, it actually became cheaper for many investors to simply let them slide into foreclosure than to keep up with the soaring monthly mortgage payments common with adjustable rate mortgages.

Low income homeowners who signed on for sub prime loans fell into a similar predicament. Lured by promises of low down payments and stable, low rates for the first year, many did not expect how hard it would be to keep up with interest rate adjustments every month, and so quickly fell into default.

However, it’s important to remember that foreclosures are also great investment chances. Las Vegas is still growing, and once the market rebounds, these properties will go back up in value. Buying them through foreclosure sales now can net you up to 50% off their actual market value, which means an incredible chance for future profits.

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Take Advantage Of High Foreclosure Rates

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

Whether you are a first time homebuyer or a seasoned investor, you can take advantage of the soaring foreclosure rates recorded in different counties and states all across the country. Foreclosures take place when a homeowner is unable to make his/her mortgage payments. It is a worst case scenario that homeowners have not learnt to fight against. In 2006, around 125,000 properties went into foreclosure in Florida as against the 95,269 properties that went into foreclosure in Florida in 2005. This is a straight increase of 13% and it is expected to increase this year too.

This means that you will get to choose from a huge database of foreclosure homes not only in Florida but in New York, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Washington, and Colorado etc. There are several factors that has led to such high foreclosure rates all across the country and the primary factor is the lending practices and the types of loans available. Most of the time people choose sub prime mortgages or mortgages with variable interest rates. What really happens is that the interest rate and the monthly payment amount for variable interest rate loans change every month. Sometimes they are quite low but most of the times they are quite high. As a result, it becomes difficult for people to pay back and thus you see a high number of bank foreclosures.

If you can find updated foreclosure listings then half your problems will be solved. These listings provide all the basic information you need to know before you buy a home. With the help of the foreclosure lists that also have the price of the home, you can find the property that suits your needs and then go ahead and bid at the public auction. With the high foreclosure rates expected to remain high this year also, no wonder investors are having a ball!

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