Archive for the 'States' Category

Growth in 29 cities in Palm Beach and Broward counties has been severely affected by the increasing number of bank foreclosure homes and the worsening economy.

Between 2007 and 2008, an exodus of residents from both counties was reported. However, a significant number of relocation has been noted in South Florida which prevented a declining population in both counties.

South Regional Planning Council’s Richard Ogburn said that the large growth experienced by towns and cities in South Florida early in 2000 is not happening due to the unabated spread of bank foreclosure homes and recession.

Population in both counties was almost flat, with Broward growing by about 2,500 people to 1.75 million and Palm Beach totaling 1.265 million in population, growing by 4,900.

U.S. Census’s July 2007 to July 2008 data showed that 161 cities in Florida experience a drop in population. The biggest drop in Broward’s population occurred in Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs and Plantation, with each losing over 200 residents for the period.

City officials and planners noted that cities with the most population decline have been among those with the highest growth nationally since 2000. Ogburn tried to play down the figures saying that they are relatively small and the cities are in the process of enticing people in.

Miramar posted the highest population gain among cities in Broward, while Delray Beach and Boynton Beach continue to gain residents since last year but in a slower pace.

Boynton Beach Manager Kurt Bressner said that the reported population increase, albeit slow, is good news for the city. He said that the city lost about 190 people in 2008. But he noted a significant migration activity in the city, attributing it to developments in the area, especially in Congress Avenue and downtown marina where 1,900 units were added.

Meanwhile, the 200 bank foreclosure homes in Plantation resulted to the city’s lost of 205 people. On the other hand, industry experts expected South Florida’s growth to pick up again. But the decline in population is forcing some city officials to recognize the need for changes in their areas, according to Ogburn.

Next year until 2012, the number of foreclosed homes for sales in Riverside, California will increase significantly as borrowers who took out adjustable rate mortgage loans in the past 3 years will default, according to a study submitted to the County Board of Supervisors by scholars of California State Fullerton.

The jobless rate, which is expected to reach 12 percent in the next several months, will make it hard for troubled borrowers to keep up with increases in their monthly loan payments. Big increases in monthly payments will start next year for many borrowers as their ARMs start to reset to higher loan rates.

As discussed in the report, the next couple of years in Riverside will be full of stories of foreclosed homes for sales, slow employment growth and slow improvement in home values.

The scholars blame the artificial housing boom in the Inland Empire as a major cause to the large number of foreclosed homes for sales in the region. They said that borrowers were forced to use ARMs for their home purchases because the boom put home prices beyond their reach. Borrowers could not afford to buy homes if they used conventional home loan products.

During the housing boom in Riverside County, the median house price soared to $415,000. Now, the median price has fallen by more than 60 percent, devastating builders of new homes and putting many construction workers out work.

In May, the median home sales price dropped to $180,000, another big drop from the $290,000 median in May 2008. It was also much lower than the median sales price in Southern California, which dropped by nearly 33 percent in May to $249,000 from the median price in May 2008.

Across the Southern California region, which includes the counties of Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange and Ventura, nearly 21,000 foreclosed homes for sales and non-foreclosure units were sold in May, a 1.3 percent increase from the 20,514 sales in April and an increase of nearly 23 percent from the 16,917 sales in May 2008.

While lenders are claiming that they have been increasing their loan modification activities under the state’s foreclosure prevention program and the federal Making Home Affordable program, statewide foreclosure filings in May surpassed the 41,000 level.

Last month, Riverside County was fourth in California in number of foreclosed homes for sales, with one foreclosure for every 958 households in the county.

Vermont recorded an increase in the number of properties on Bank Foreclosure Listings in May. About 801 properties were included in foreclosure proceedings last month, an increase of 10 percent or 730 properties from last year’s May total.

However, Deputy Commissioner Thomas Candon (Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration) said that despite the rise in the number of properties on Bank Foreclosure Listings, Vermont is still better off than other states.

Candon explained that Vermont experienced an increase in foreclosures in the first two months of this year as moratoriums implemented by several banks last year started to expire. But declining rates followed the first two months of the year until May when it soared again.

In Bennington County, foreclosure filings were reportedly made on 57 properties in May, an increase from 41 on a year-to-year basis.

Candon pointed out that the foreclosure rate in Vermont was more manageable compared with other states because only a handful of homeowners in the state availed of subprime mortgages with adjustable rates. These subprime loans were mostly offered to borrowers who have poor credit histories.

Candon said that banks in Vermont did not offer subprime loans as often as other states did. In fact, only about 10 percent of homeowners who called Vermont’s mortgage assistance hotline in 2009 were concerned that their properties would be added to the Bank Foreclosure Listings because of subprime loans.

He said that the hotline was established with the expectation that majority of people who will use the program have subprime adjustable rates. About 60 percent of the total 414 calls made on the mortgage assistance hotline were due to loss of job or income, 18 percent due to medical costs and 14 percent due to separation or divorce.

Last year, about 342 distressed homeowners placed calls on the hotline.

Meanwhile, nearly 19 percent of homeowners who placed calls on the hotline for the first five months of this year are current on their mortgage payments, 50 percent were delayed and 14 percent are already in some kind of foreclosure proceedings.

Vermont has passed a law requiring mortgage servicers to provide distressed homeowners with basic information about their rights, where and how to seek help to save their properties from Bank Foreclosure Listings.

Economists and local realtors agree that now is the right time to buy a property in Texas to take advantage of its buyer’s market. The stabilizing number of bank foreclosure homes in Texas and the fair performance of the housing market have made the state an ideal buyer’s market.

The biggest wholesale trading center in South Florida is facing the possibility of inclusion on bank foreclosure list.

Arizona has received about $121 million in federal grants under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). The federal housing fund will be used to help people purchase bank owned homes sales in neighborhoods severely affected by foreclosure.

The number of bank owned homes foreclosures and evictions in Rhode Island is on the rise. This is the conclusion made on the report “Move Out Rhode Island-An Analysis of 2008 Foreclosure Evictions” released by the Rhode Island Legal Services.

Bank foreclosure homes will get the attention of Monterey County supervisors and six cities in California. County supervisors have approved an agreement with six cities severely affected by the housing market crisis to purchase bank foreclosure homes, rehabilitate and re-sell them to low-income homebuyers.

The increase in the number of pending and completed sales in Florida brought new hope to the housing market in the state despite the fact that majority of closed sales were bank owned foreclosure.

Officials of the city of Danville in Illinois are dealing with problems of tall weeds and grass in Bank Owned Foreclosures Homes. According to Jim Meharry, Danville inspection and enforcement manager, the wet spring did not make mowing very desirable to many people.