Bank Foreclosures Sale Articles

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.

The reason for the increase in foreclosure auctions is the recession. Nowadays, many homeowners are losing or have lost their jobs, forcing them to miss payments on their mortgages.

Industry experts said that historically, when people lost their jobs, it follows that they would soon lose their homes if they have not found another employment. They said unemployment is the main culprit behind the current flood of home foreclosures for sale. So far, the number of repossession proceedings in the state has increased by almost 150 percent.

And many homeowners who are at risk of foreclosures do not want to talk about losing their jobs, running out of money or defaulting on their mortgage payments. This is one reason why foreclosure filings are increasing because distressed homeowners would decide to seek help at the last minute, when it is already too late to save their homes from foreclosures.

Industry experts said that the current housing market in Sudbury is a typical example of what the coming flood of foreclosures could do to an area. For example, a 1,770-square-foot single-family colonial home that was built in 1995 was purchased in November 2003 for $410,000. It was foreclosed last October 1 with an assessed value of $420,800. The opening bid price for the property was $365,000.

Experts said that only seven houses above the 1 million mark have been sold in Sudbury this year, compared with 43 in 2008. The listed prices showed that property prices are holding up. However, industry experts do not expect it to last long as another flood of foreclosures is working its way to the market.

Industry analysts said that foreclosure properties tend to pull down housing prices and values, resulting to homeowners owning properties that have less value compared with their mortgage. But analysts said that Massachusetts is still better off than other states as the number of home foreclosures for sale is not that high.

They pointed out that the state’s population is still growing, with people needing affordable places to live. Massachusetts residents need to do some more belt tightening because it is still a long way to recovery, according to analysts.

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

The median price for all types of homes in Jacksonville increased slightly by 0.26 in August to $153,600, up from $153,200 in July. The July median price also marked a slight increase of 0.13 percent from the June median price of $153,000.

For the period from August last year to January this year, prices for single-family homes increased monthly by a range of 1 to 2 percent. Over the summer, prices leveled and then increased slightly in July and in August.

The slight price increases in July and August are seen as a good sign by housing analysts in Florida. The ten months before May all showed declines in median prices. They hope that the slight improvements in price are ushering a start of recovery in the housing market.

Several realtors in the area said that the slight increase in prices may have been driven by a flattening of foreclosures. They said that the number of foreclosure homes entering the market has been declining.

Based on another online real estate research firm, the number of Jacksonville bank foreclosures as of the first week of October is a little over 8,000 units. The firm also said that previously-owned homes account for the majority of homes available for sale, which stand at more than 24,100 units.

Jacksonville has more homeowners than renters, with 58 percent of all residential properties occupied by homeowners and 32 percent occupied by renters. About 8 percent of the more than 243,000 residential units in Jacksonville are vacant.

Economists in Florida also credit the federal tax credit as a major factor in the increase in home prices in Jacksonville. The November 30 expiration of the tax credit prompted prospective home buyers to make the home purchase before the deadline.

The economists also observed that home values in Jacksonville has been stabilizing over the summer months, with the adjusted annual price depreciation changing sharply from over 15 percent of annualized depreciation in February to below 10 percent annualized depreciation in August.

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.

A foreclosed house on Brewster Road, which was previously priced at $300,000 will be auctioned off at the starting price of $59,000 while another house previously priced at $400,000 will be auctioned off at the starting price of $500.

Larry Mitchell, president of the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors, said it is crucial for the recovery of the Indianapolis housing market to reduce substantially the number of foreclosures.

Mitchell added that he is expecting more first time home buyers to participate in the auction because of the expiration of the $8,000 federal tax credit on November 30. Many are hoping though that the incentive would be extended.

First time home buyers are expected to be the main group that will buy the foreclosure homes in the auction because of the attractive prices, according to Mitchell.

Housing analysts in the area said that the Indianapolis market has been showing some signs of recovery. In August, 24 percent of all homes sold were Indianapolis bank foreclosures, marking a drop from the 30-percent share in March. In August, new listings accounted for 14 percent of all home sales, a drop from the 15-percent share in March.

Pending sales also increased by two percent, the first increase in pending sales experienced by Indianapolis in over 12 months.

Mitchell contended that the decline in the percentage of foreclosures in the market compared to foreclosure levels in 2007 and 2008 is a strong indication of a recovery in Indianapolis. He cited the role of investors and first time home buyers in absorbing the foreclosures.

If the number of foreclosures in the market is reduced substantially, owners of homes who are selling their non-foreclosed properties will have a level playing field.

At the foreclosure auction this weekend, over 70 foreclosed homes will be sold off. At the auction held by the same company in March, 79 foreclosed properties were sold.

Based on a foreclosure survey conducted in 203 major metropolitan areas in the nation, the Indianapolis-Carmel metro area had more than 11,000 foreclosure postings during the first 6 months of this year. This means that one per 68 households in the locale was hit with a default or foreclosure filing.

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.

The city of High Point in North Carolina is providing federal funds to buy foreclosed homes for sale. The city has received about $2.625 million under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

Fort Worth bank foreclosures are also now including a lot of condos, just like other cities with a glut of distressed condo units, according to Addison-based real estate research firm and based on data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Fort Lauderdale bank foreclosures are still growing despite the decline of foreclosure filings in other places largely because of the high number of delinquent Fort Lauderdale unable to obtain favorable modification agreements with their lenders.

A large portion of Las Vegas bank foreclosures were purchased as rental investments in August, based on home sales data collected by two real estate research firms.

Sales from bank foreclosed homes listings in the urban areas of Colorado climbed up in September compared to August, based on data from the Colorado Division of Housing.