Archive for the 'States' Category

The State Bureau of Financial Institutions’ quarterly survey showed that the number of foreclosed houses for sale in Maine continues to rise. But the survey also indicated that the number of new home loans in the state is also rising for the same period.

Superintendent Lloyd LaFountain said that the state is seeing a significant jump in the number of new home loans taken out from state-regulated institutions.

The comparative data for the second quarter of the previous year showed that the 12 credit unions and 20 banks that Maine regulates posted about 2,222 new first home loans. For the same period this year, the banks and credit unions initiated about 3,583 first loans.

Industry experts said that the jump in the number of foreclosed houses for sale was quite modest despite the quarterly survey results showing 260 foreclosures were initiated for all kinds of residential loans, an increase from 186 foreclosures posted for the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the number of second home loans taken out statewide dropped to 1,719 in the second quarter of this year, from 2,343 for the same quarter the previous year.

However, many industry experts are uncertain about the results of the state survey. They are not sure if the figures indicated in the survey are the true representation of what is really going on in Maine.

They said that many home loans were written by credit unions, mortgage companies and federally chartered banks and they all deal differently with their clients compared with local banks.

Experts explained that these institutions have ties with the local community and they would do everything they can to avoid making foreclosures, adding that they would work with troubled borrowers just to keep the loan active and current. The case is different with national banks, according to experts.

But because of this difference, experts said that the state survey may have downplayed the total foreclosures in Maine. They said that state-regulated financial institutions hold only a few of subprime loans that have brought the first wave of foreclosures in the country.
Experts pointed out that the conservative method of lending resulted to low number of foreclosed houses for sale in Maine compared with other areas in the country.

Auctions in October will see a lot of Texas bank foreclosures as postings of distressed properties grew to record high in Tarrant County and Dallas-Fort Worth areas.

The number of single-family homes that were foreclosed or on the brink of foreclosure in Tarrant County is expected to reach about 20,000 before the end of this year. Similarly, in Dallas-Fort Worth area, single-family home foreclosure postings are expected to grow to 60,000 before the year ends.

Foreclosure property postings that are headed on the auction block in October are expected to reach 1,975. The figures are second only to those posted in July and marked the seventh succeeding months that property postings have peaked by 1,500.

According to industry experts, the deadline had passed for foreclosure posting filings at county courthouses across Texas for the October 6 auctions.

Records showed that Tarrant County is leading the pack of counties with high Texas bank foreclosures scheduled for auction. Together with Tarrant are other counties in Dallas-Fort Worth such as Collin, Dallas and Denton.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, 5,940 homeowners received notices of foreclosures, representing a 34 percent rise compared with 4,436 notices reported for the auctions in October 2008. According to industry experts, home postings in Dallas-Fort Worth for foreclosure auctions in July totaled 6,072. For October auctions, home postings soared, getting near the July figures.

Experts said that while foreclosure filing increases normally happen within a cycle, the July and October figures were the highest increases in the current foreclosure cycle, and probably the greatest.

For the first 10 foreclosure auctions this year, about 51,000 foreclosure properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area were posted, making another record level in terms of the number of distressed properties posted for the current foreclosure cycle.

Experts said that since 2000, about 11,025 troubled properties were posted for foreclosures in Dallas-Fort Worth. And while the residential real estate in the state is getting a hard beating from the foreclosure problem, the commercial real estate is already starting to feel the crisis.

Already, a staggering number of commercial development projects were foreclosed or in danger of going into foreclosure. The recent notable foreclosure case involves Le Bijou, a townhomes project.

Homeowners who default on their mortgage payments may end up losing their properties to Georgia bank foreclosures without any judicial review in just over a month. And before they realize what really happened, their distressed properties are already on the auction block.

In Georgia, 159 counties hold auctions of foreclosed houses every first Tuesday of each month. As of September 1, about 1,500 foreclosure properties in Atlanta were auctioned off. The Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Reverend Jesse Jackson, together with 125 ministers in various areas in the Southern States, tried to stop the auction.

The group appealed to both Wells Fargo and Citibank to withdraw all foreclosure homes from the auction. In response, Citibank withdrew 30 foreclosed homes from the 40 properties it put on the auction block. The company will also restructure the troubled loans.

On its part, Wells Fargo is still reviewing its response. Jackson praised the Citibank for its decision to pull out 30 foreclosure houses from the auction block. But at the same time, he pointed out the need for a monumental restructuring to really contain the number of Georgia bank foreclosures.

Industry experts said that the flood of foreclosures in the state has significantly surpassed the number of successful loan modifications. They said that banks have already been given a massive help, but the initiative failed to stop the flow of foreclosures on the market.

As of end of June, the number of foreclosed homes peaked at 1.5 million and another 2.4 million properties are projected to go into foreclosures before the year ends. For the next five years, 13 million distressed properties are projected to be foreclosed.

Industry experts pointed out that the foreclosure crisis has now spread from subprime loans to prime loans. In fact, prime loan borrowers accounted for 27 percent of the total troubled loans, an increase of 17 percent compared to last year.

Meanwhile, 23 percent of American homeowners own properties that are worth less than their total mortgage. And what is alarming is that only 10 percent of troubled homeowners who are eligible to receive relief under the anti-foreclosure prevention plan of the Obama Administration were given assistance.

The Rainbow PUSH has launched a campaign for a massive restructuring of troubled loans in an effort to alleviate the foreclosure problem.

The languishing economy, rising unemployment and crippling credit crunch are starting to strangle many commercial property owners that it would not be long and Florida bank foreclosures would start to flood the real estate market again.

The Massachusetts bank foreclosures rate is the second highest in the New England region. But findings of the Boston University’s New England Center for Investigative Reporting showed that despite the high foreclosure activity in Massachusetts, it lagged behind compared with other New England states in terms of punitive actions against brokers and lenders.

New York bank foreclosures are good investments because of their cheap prices. Many smart investors are grabbing foreclosure properties as soon as they are placed on the market because they know that they could earn huge profits from them.

A proposed commercial development project in East Lansing is facing Michigan bank foreclosures and back taxes. According to industry experts, the proposed $116.4 million City Center II project in East Lansing has fallen into foreclosure. Additionally, all the properties in the development project are delinquent in paying property taxes to the city government of East Lansing.

As the housing market continues to languish due to the increasing number of Indiana bank foreclosures, industry experts are finding ways to turn around the current situation for the advantage of small investors.

The Fort Hood Area Habitat for Humanity in Texas may venture into a $1.75 million agreement with the state government to choose bank foreclosures homes sales in the counties of Bell and Coryell.

The Retreat at Stone Eagle located at the Cahuilla Hills is regarded as one of the most resplendent luxury housings in California. Designed by Altervers Associates for Ministrelli Development, The Retreat’s multimillion dollar houses stand tall from the craggy canyon, mirroring the look of the northern Costa Smerlada in Sardinia, Italy.