Bank Foreclosures Sale Articles

Home sales in Santa Clara County, California jumped by 17 percent last month, buyed by bank foreclosure properties for sale. The increase in total home sales in September compared with the same month a year ago is due to low mortgage rates and the flood of first-time buyers who want to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit before it expires by the end of November.

Last month, home sales totaled 1,307, up from the 1,116 for the same month a year ago. Meanwhile, month-to-month median prices dropped by almost 2 percent, a smaller decline than in August. Industry experts are hoping that the trend could mean the market’s decline is nearing its bottom. July to August prices dropped by 5 percent.

Similarly, the median price of $506,000 last month was down by 8 percent compared with $550,000 the same month the previous year. Industry experts said that the drop in median price was due to the large number of low-priced homes being sold.

Experts noted a record high number of bank foreclosure properties for sale, with nonowner-occupied purchasing above average. They summed up the current market activity as very strong, with many purchases taking place due to the federal tax credit that motivated first-time buyers.

But they pointed out that the market is not yet out of the woods, citing the growing number of foreclosure properties which indicated that the economy is still not strong.

Recent market data showed a slight decline in the number of foreclosed homes in the Bay Area. However, foreclosures increased in Santa Clara County, accounting for 27.2 percent of the total condominiums and houses sold last month, an increase of 26.4 percent from August.

Industry experts said that foreclosure remains unabated because homeowners could not modify their loans into affordable rates and many have lost substantial equity on their houses. They pointed out that in many places, home prices were almost flat. However, the trend could change if a new wave of foreclosure starts coming into the housing market.

Furthermore, mortgage delinquencies continue to rise, resulting with many distressed homeowners who could end up modifying their loans, getting short sales or going into foreclosures.

Experts said that any price stability being experienced right could be rock again by another wave of bank foreclosure properties for sale.

Philadelphia bank foreclosures have not increased in number as fast as in other cities because of various programs launched by the city and the state of Pennsylvania, in addition to the federal loan modification and refinancing programs.

In the nationwide foreclosure report released this week by an online research firm, Pennsylvania ranked low in the foreclosure rate chart for the third quarter this year. While the worst affected state, Nevada, has one out of every 23 households in default or foreclosure, Pennsylvania has one in every 387 units in default or foreclosure.

The state was 34th in the chart, with only 14,167 households receiving default or foreclosure postings in the third quarter, including 3,973 bank-repossessed units.

One of the programs that have successfully helped control the rise in foreclosures in Philadelphia is the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, which was launched in April 2008. This program has helped approximately 1,400 families to save their homes from foreclosure by delaying sheriff’s sales so distressed homeowners can negotiate with their lenders for lower monthly payments in sessions supervised by the court.

Pamela Kennebrew, a counselor working with the project, said she has received a lot of cards from homeowners thanking her and the project for helping them keep their homes.

Terry Gillen, meanwhile, who works as an adviser to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, said that the program is small compared to the breadth of Philadelphia bank foreclosures, but if 1,400 families so far were saved from the streets, then the program is already a success.

Now, John Dodds, head of the Philadelphia project, is focusing more on helping unemployed homeowners. He has been campaigning for the provision of direct loans to unemployed homeowners. He reiterated that many of the 7.2 million workers who were laid off since the beginning of the crisis have also lost their homes and those who have been able to continue paying will soon lose theirs too if there is no significant intervention from the government.

Another program that has been helping contain foreclosures in the city is the mandatory mediation program, which was even used as a model for foreclosure prevention in other cities. This program was carried out in partnership with nonprofits whose counselors went from door to door to distribute flyers about the program and reach out to distressed homeowners.

Many homeowners in Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts are on the brink of foreclosures, causing another flood of foreclosed homes in the area. The number of foreclosure filings in the area rose in August. And many lenders are holding off taking over distressed properties for fear that they will be stuck with them.

The number of foreclosure petitions in Hampden County rose by 191.67 percent to 175 in August from 60 filings in the same month last year. Meanwhile, the number of repossession deeds dropped by 25.32 percent to 59 in August compared with 79 for the same month the previous year.

In Hampshire County, foreclosure petitions rose by 257.14 percent to 25 from seven. However, the number of actual foreclosures remained at 10.

In Franklin County, foreclosures were filed on 23 homeowners, an increase of 360 percent from five of August 2008. Similarly, the number of actual foreclosures jumped by 50 percent to nine from six.

Industry experts said that all over the region, people have lost or starting to lose their jobs, resulting to missing their mortgage payments and opening the gate to another flood of foreclosed homes. Meanwhile, one family is facing the risk of losing their 1,900-square-foot, four-bedroom house to foreclosure after they defaulted on their mortgage payment with Option One Mortgage Crop.

To delay getting into foreclosure, the family filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy under which they are required to create a payment plan to be approved by the court. The family also decided to file a lawsuit against lender, Option One. Under the lawsuit, the family alleged that the lender misled them. They also seek recovery of late penalties and for the Option One to pay their legal fees.

A case like this demonstrated the worsening foreclosure problem in the region. Industry experts said that there should be a judicial foreclosure in the state. They explained that a judicial foreclosure would entail each foreclosure case to be brought before state judges.

Nationally, the number of homeowners who went into foreclosures jumped by over 5 percent. In July-September period, almost 938,000 properties went into foreclosure, compared with 890,000 in the second quarter. The flood of foreclosed homes filings are expected to reach 3.5 million in 2009, a drastic increase from 2.3 million the previous year.

New York bank foreclosures in the housing sector rose in two foreclosure charts released by an online real estate research firm.

The developer of the planned community development project in Pierce County, Washington has filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to avoid bank foreclosure sales. The Cascadia planned community, touted as one of the largest development projects in the county with 18 years of planning and building, is the latest victim of the current economic crisis that has been sweeping across the country for several years now.

Industry experts have been seeing home foreclosures for sale spread from Massachusetts’ urban areas of Dorchester and Lowell to the suburban of Hinghams, Westons and Sudbury. They said that foreclosures have invaded places where in the past were spared from them.

Prices for Jacksonville bank foreclosures rose slightly in August, according to a real estate research firm.

Indianapolis bank foreclosures will be auctioned off at deep discounts at the downtown Mariott Hotel this weekend. The starting bids for the foreclosure homes will range from $500 to $59,000.

Orlando, Florida Mayor Buddy Dyer, Secretary of HUD Shaun Donovan and Congressman Alan Grayson toured a city neighborhood to highlight the success of two federal programs designed to reduce the number of bank and government foreclosures homes.
Donovan described Orlando as the ground zero of the foreclosure crisis. He also defended the Obama Administration’s $75 billion [...]

Hialeah bank foreclosures will have a significant impact on the census count in the city next year, just like in every other area of the U.S. affected by foreclosures.