Monday, March 26, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Foreclosure Activity Continues to Fall
The "foreclosure wave" many predicted at the end of last year is beginning to look more like a drought, as foreclosure sales dropped significantly in February. Although sales to 3rd Parties, typically investors, were down month-over-month, as a percentage of all sales 3rd Parties purchased a record 37.6 percent of foreclosures, up from 20.3 percent a year earlier, and just 2.2 percent in February 2008.
Further eliminating any possibility of a foreclosure wave for months to come, was a substantial drop in new foreclosure filings in California, Nevada, and Washington. Arizona saw a modest increase in foreclosure starts, while Oregon jumped a dramatic 39.4 percent. Despite the size of the increase, it simply offset a drop in January, and showed little change in comparison to earlier months. Nevada remains far below the average number of foreclosure starts; and the dramatic changes to their foreclosure laws will likely drag out the Nevada foreclosure process for years to come.
Unlike years past, February's drop in sales was not due to the short month. Thanks to the Leap Year, California had only one less business day than usual in February (because of the Abraham Lincoln's birthday observation). The other states do not observe Lincoln's birthday, and so had the same number of business days as other months.
Further eliminating any possibility of a foreclosure wave for months to come, was a substantial drop in new foreclosure filings in California, Nevada, and Washington. Arizona saw a modest increase in foreclosure starts, while Oregon jumped a dramatic 39.4 percent. Despite the size of the increase, it simply offset a drop in January, and showed little change in comparison to earlier months. Nevada remains far below the average number of foreclosure starts; and the dramatic changes to their foreclosure laws will likely drag out the Nevada foreclosure process for years to come.
Unlike years past, February's drop in sales was not due to the short month. Thanks to the Leap Year, California had only one less business day than usual in February (because of the Abraham Lincoln's birthday observation). The other states do not observe Lincoln's birthday, and so had the same number of business days as other months.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Where Are All the Home Sellers?
Inventories of homes listed for sale in January dropped by 6.6% from December to 1.77 million, the eighth straight month that listings have declined. For-sale listings are 23.2% below year-earlier levels and at the lowest point since the housing bust accelerated five years ago, according to data from Realtor.com.
All but one of the 146 markets tracked by Realtor.com had fewer homes listed than one year earlier, with Springfield, Ill., as the outlier.
Compared with one year earlier, listings were down by a whopping 55% in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and by nearly half in Miami, Phoenix, and Bakersfield, Calif. Markets with the smallest declines included New York (-1.7%) and Philadelphia (-3%).
Housing inventories typically rise heading into the spring selling season, but only four markets saw inventories increase from December, all of them in Florida. San Francisco and Boston, reported some of the largest monthly inventory declines, of 16% and 10%, respectively.
The Realtor.com figures include sale listings from more than 900 multiple-listing services across the country. They don’t cover all homes for sale, including those that are “for sale by owner” and newly constructed homes that aren’t always listed by the services.
The National Association of Realtors estimated on Wednesday that there were nearly 2.31 million homes for sale at the end of January, a 21% decline from one year earlier. The NAR estimates that at the current pace of sales, it would take 6.1 months to clear that inventory, the lowest level since April 2006, before home prices began falling.
Low inventories are a prerequisite for any housing recovery because a glut of unsold homes has been one factor pulling down prices. But it’s an open question whether these inventory declines are the sign of health that they would appear to be.
If homeowners are giving up on selling their homes because of low prices, or if inventories are declining because banks are still facing complications trying to process foreclosures, the declines could be artificial.
Economists at Goldman Sachs said the declines are a “modest positive” for the housing market, but said they also “exaggerate the improvement” in correcting supply-demand imbalances because they have stemmed primarily from a decline in new listings, and not a major pickup in sales.
Compared with one year earlier, listings were down by a whopping 55% in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and by nearly half in Miami, Phoenix, and Bakersfield, Calif. Markets with the smallest declines included New York (-1.7%) and Philadelphia (-3%).
Housing inventories typically rise heading into the spring selling season, but only four markets saw inventories increase from December, all of them in Florida. San Francisco and Boston, reported some of the largest monthly inventory declines, of 16% and 10%, respectively.
The Realtor.com figures include sale listings from more than 900 multiple-listing services across the country. They don’t cover all homes for sale, including those that are “for sale by owner” and newly constructed homes that aren’t always listed by the services.
The National Association of Realtors estimated on Wednesday that there were nearly 2.31 million homes for sale at the end of January, a 21% decline from one year earlier. The NAR estimates that at the current pace of sales, it would take 6.1 months to clear that inventory, the lowest level since April 2006, before home prices began falling.
Low inventories are a prerequisite for any housing recovery because a glut of unsold homes has been one factor pulling down prices. But it’s an open question whether these inventory declines are the sign of health that they would appear to be.
If homeowners are giving up on selling their homes because of low prices, or if inventories are declining because banks are still facing complications trying to process foreclosures, the declines could be artificial.
Economists at Goldman Sachs said the declines are a “modest positive” for the housing market, but said they also “exaggerate the improvement” in correcting supply-demand imbalances because they have stemmed primarily from a decline in new listings, and not a major pickup in sales.
Bills aim to curb unfair foreclosure practices
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012 - 1:38 pm
California Attorney General Kamala Harris joined state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John Perez to unveil a package of bills designed to curb unfair foreclosure practices.
Dubbed the "California Homeowner Bill of Rights," the six measures call for more transparency by banks, provide protections for renters who live in foreclosed properties, impose fees on banks each time they foreclose on a home and create a special grand jury to investigate financial and foreclosure crimes.
One of the bills also aims to do away the controversial practice of dual track foreclosures, where a bank starts the foreclosure process at the same time it is negotiating a loan modification with the owner.
Click here for the SacBee website
Dubbed the "California Homeowner Bill of Rights," the six measures call for more transparency by banks, provide protections for renters who live in foreclosed properties, impose fees on banks each time they foreclose on a home and create a special grand jury to investigate financial and foreclosure crimes.
One of the bills also aims to do away the controversial practice of dual track foreclosures, where a bank starts the foreclosure process at the same time it is negotiating a loan modification with the owner.
Click here for the SacBee website
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