Thursday, June 2, 2011

House prices go down as foreclosure rates soar

Home prices are still falling in the U.S. And foreclosure rates are increasing. Really, this ought to make house buyers happy. However, should you be looking to sell, it might be advantageous to wait a little longer.

How the FHFA report shows it going

The home-price index fell swifter than it has since 2008 in the first quarter according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In the last quarter, prices went down 2.5 percent, which is a 5.5 percent drop from last year was. The report did not contain all homes. Only Fannie Mae or Freddie Machomes were included. It excludes cash only sales.

Several think it is from the foreclosures

FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco said, “In many local real estate markets, particularly those hit hard by this cycle, foreclosures and other distressed properties are still a key factor in recorded and anticipated future sales and may be delaying price stability or recovery.” The prices of homes in foreclosure are dropping, according to RealtyTrac. During the first quarter, the average sale price was $168,321 which dropped 1.46 percent from a year ago and 1.89 percent from the quarter before. And because foreclosures lower the value of other homes in their neighborhood, they impact the rest of the index as well.

Foreclosure third parties

“While foreclosure sales continue to account for an unusually high percentage of all residential home sales, sales volume is well off the peak we saw in the first quarter of 2009, when nearly 350,000 foreclosure properties were sold to third parties,” reported James Saccacio, the CEO of RealtyTrac. There was a 16 percent decline from the last quarter and 36 percent decline from a year ago in the number of homes sold to third parties which was at 158,434 in the first quarter.

Foreclosures rates vary by area

The percentage of houses on the industry from foreclosure is different in every state. In Ohio and Illinois it was 41 percent. A 45 percent rate was shown in California and Arizona. In Nevada, foreclosures were 53 percent of the industry.

Worry about scams in the foreclosure industry

More foreclosure scams have come about. They are sometimes hard to see. Homeowners end up with nothing in these scams that have upfront fees for foreclosure prevention. The Federal Trade Commission no longer allows upfront fees for negotiations on mortgage reduction plans. This change was made in Feb.

Information from

Wall Street Journal

blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2011/05/25/home-prices-fall-at-fastest-pace-since-late-2008/?mod=google_news_blog

DS News

dsnews.com/articles/home-prices-post-biggest-drop-in-two-years-as-foreclosures-depress-market-2011-05-26

DS News

dsnews.com/articles/home-prices-post-biggest-drop-in-two-years-as-foreclosures-depress-market-2011-05-26

Daily Finance

dailyfinance.com/2011/05/27/foreclosure-prices-fall-again-how-your-state-stacks-up/



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