Posted by BetsyMI on 9/18/07 12:35pm
Msg #211765
Home Foreclosures in August
Just saw this on the internet:
LOS ANGELES - The number of foreclosure filings reported in the U.S. last month more than doubled versus August 2006 and jumped 36 percent from July, a trend that signals many homeowners are increasingly unable to make timely payments on their mortgages or sell their homes amid a national housing slump.
A total of 243,947 foreclosure filings were reported in August, up 115 percent from 113,300 in the same month a year ago, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said Tuesday.
There were 179,599 foreclosure filings reported in July.
The filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Some properties might have received more than one notice if the owners have multiple mortgages.
August's total represents the highest number of foreclosure filings reported in a single month since the company began tracking monthly filings two years ago.
The national foreclosure rate last month was one filing for every 510 households, the company said.
"The jump in foreclosure filings this month might be the beginning of the next wave of increased foreclosure activity, as a large number of subprime adjustable rate loans are beginning to reset now," RealtyTrac Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said.
The mortgage industry has been rocked by a surge in defaults, particularly among borrowers with subprime loans and adjustable rate mortgages that initially had attractive "teaser" interest rates but then can adjust upward, resulting in a payment shock.
Many of the loans, some of which adjust in as little as two years, were issued in 2005 and 2006 during the height of the housing boom.
Lagging home sales and flat or decreasing home prices have also left homeowners unable to make their mortgage payments hard-pressed to find buyers.
The latest figures also reflect an increase in the number of homes going into foreclosure that are not being picked up in estate sales and are ending up going back to lenders.
The number of bank repossessions jumped to 42,789 in August, compared with 20,116 a year earlier, the RealtyTrac said. In July, there were 26,842 bank repossessions.
Nevada, California and Florida had the highest foreclosure rates in the country last month, the firm said.
Nevada reported one foreclosure filing for every 165 households _ more than three times the national average. The state had 6,197 filings in August, an increase of 21 percent from July and more than triple the year-ago figure.
California's foreclosure rate was one filing for every 224 households. The state reported the most foreclosure filings of any single state with 57,875, up 48 percent from July and an increase of more than 300 percent from August 2006.
Florida had one foreclosure filing for every 243 households. In all, the state reported 33,932 foreclosure filings, up 77 percent from July's total and more than twice the year-ago total.
Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Indiana rounded out the 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates.
| Reply by Philip Johnson on 9/18/07 12:54pm
Msg #211770
Now who do we believe?
In a posting down the list a ROC paper says 1 in 80 Floridians are foreclosed and this one says 1 in 243 Floridians are being foreclosed. Foreclosures are up, there is no doubt about that, but who is being foreclosed on? I would imagine that 50% of these foreclosures are speculators who just walked away when any hope of a profit evaporated. I say this with the sentence that Nevada, California and Florida top the list of foreclosures. If these people lose their shirts, there shouldn't be any tears shed for them.
So if these folks are removed from the list it looks that foreclosures are about running at par from earlier years. So is there really a crisis? Or are there hedge funds, investors, speculators and the like who are in crisis, foiling a crisis on us all? The market will work, but I'm afraid that the cries from those in crisis will cause the government to act. Which normally does nothing but either worsen the crisis or cost you and I the taxpayer a wagon of money, hopefully the government will sit this one out.
| Reply by Todd/OH on 9/18/07 1:16pm
Msg #211774
Re: Now who do we believe?
I don't see where you actually believe there is not a crisis. Nearly 50,000 jobs have evaporated and mortgage operations filing bankruptcy. Home builders reduced (or eliminated) their spec building months before the foreclosures became headlines. The people that lost their shorts were duped into a mortgage they couldn't afford.
Yes, it's a crisis. Those who could get financing a month ago cannot now. Those who knew they couldn't must now wait many more years to qualify. Banks can't lend nearly as much because their portfolios have lost value. They can't sell any portfolio because investors have no confidence in the quality of the paper.
| Reply by ME/NJ on 9/18/07 1:43pm
Msg #211782
Todd you hit it on the head.. Rough ride for a few years n/m
| Reply by Rachel/ORWA on 9/18/07 6:47pm
Msg #211837
There's a crisis, but who's to blame?
I absolutely believe there's been mortgage fraud, all around, often with the consent and/or cooperation of the consumer. It is tragic that some people have been sweet-talked into home ownership through shady lending practices. However, most of the mortgage debaucle has been a result of refis, not purchases, and most of those were people borrowing against the rising "value" of their homes, not just getting a lower interest rate on their mortgage balance. The "home" indebtedness that now is resulting in foreclosures all over the country (yes, even here in the NW) includes a lot of cars, boats, credit card expenditures and plain old cash. These people have my sympathy, but it doesn't extend to bailing them out. I'm with Phillip on that: I hope the government sits this one out.
| Reply by Susan Fischer on 9/18/07 10:54pm
Msg #211886
Too late to 'blame.' And the government can't merely
"sit this one out."
The ecomomic and therefore global position of this nation is at stake. It is not about boats and cars, although the advertising industry along with the constant demand for higher "bottom lines" by the stock market are parties, our national debt is the underlying issue. We all, as citizens, owe over $9 TRILLION to foreigners.
Some of those self same creditors also furnish this country with the very items we used to produce and ship to the rest of the world as surplus - back when workers negotiated for wages, safety, benefits, and quality control. Even food. Products were good, there was a thriving middle class, society provided for the poor, and the wealth was distributed amongs a free people.
The greedy extend far beyond the everyday consumer. There's enough blame to go around the globe several times.
The Big Picture is Global.
| Reply by Rachel/ORWA on 9/19/07 12:05pm
Msg #211956
Re: Too late to 'blame.' And the government can't merely
How is a $9+ trillion deficit going to be improved by the government bailing out tens of thousands of homeowners?
As far as blame goes, some con artist (i.e., some lenders) can make a too-good-to-be-true offer (i.e., unending wealth based on the housing bubble), but do you (the consumer) have to take it?
Also, IMO, the trade deficit, class distinction and unionization are unrelated to the fact that so many have been living beyond their means.
| Reply by Susan Fischer on 9/19/07 2:47pm
Msg #212039
Jobs. Where has all the work gone? What do you
think runs our economy?
That 9 trillion could have gone to pay back the money stolen from the Social Security Trust, which, in turn, would put the money back into our economy by the retirees spending it.
Now, retirees are competing for the same jobs teenagers used to seek just to stay alive. The pensions are gone, for all but the fortunate.
The rampant credit card debt is another huge can of worms...sure, it's easy just to say "Don't charge anything." But the reality is that marketing 'the good life' with 'easy monthly payments' turned into a terrible trap, for many reasons.
Playing the blame game isn't going to fix anything.
Jmho.
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