Foreclosure Trends for 85018

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Las Vegas, California Cities Top Foreclosure List in 2009 - BusinessWeek

Las Vegas homeowners had the highest U.S. foreclosure rate last year, and California and Florida cities accounted for 17 of the nation’s 20 worst markets as unemployment extended the housing recession.

via businessweek.com

The article goes on to say that things are looking to get worse before they get better. A significant increase in foreclosures is expected and if the economy continue to sputter home prices that gained in the past six months will falter again.

New home sales fall 7.6% in December

Sales of new homes unexpectedly fell 7.6 percent last month, capping the industry's weakest year on record.

The results were the weakest since March and indicated demand remains sluggish despite newly expanded tax incentives to spur sales.

Only 374,000 homes were sold last year, down 23 percent from a year earlier and the weakest year on records dating back to 1963.

The median sales price of $221,300 was down nearly 4 percent from $229,600 a year earlier, but up about 5 percent from November's median of $210,300.

Az Central article is here

As long as there are distressed properties on the market in any sizable quantity the new home sales figures will be horrible.

December home sales down nearly 17 percent - Yahoo! News

Sales of previously occupied homes took the largest monthly drop in more than 40 years last month, sinking more dramatically than expected ......

December's sales fell 16.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million, from an unchanged pace of 6.54 million in November, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. Sales had been expected to fall by about 10 percent, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.....

The inventory of unsold homes on the market fell about 7 percent to 3.3 million. That's a 7.2 month supply at the current sales pace, close to a healthy level of about 6 months.

Unfortunately, they do not mention the inventory that is currently being held by as Bank Owned will at some point hit the market and potentially cause the months supply to jump. We know that B of A is already getting ready to release bank owned properties into the Las Vegas market... It is only a matter of time until this happens throughout the country.

Foreclosure - New Winter Olympic Game??!!

The Whistler ski resort in Vancouver, where the XXI Winter Olympics will be held next month, slipped into foreclosure after parent Intrawest missed a $524 million debt payment last month and it could be auctioned off by creditors — in the middle of the Games!
If you have a few extra bucks socked away you may be able to pick up a ski resort on the cheap.
Crazy times!

Read the article here

Current Stats for Phoenix - 01/21/2010

Current Stats for Phoenix

All Property Types

	ALL	Distressed	Not Distressed	% Distressed
Active	35097	14501	20596	41.32
Pending	10782	7316	3466	67.85
Closed - 12/2009	7553	4955	2598	65.60

Months of inventory for Not Distressed properties = 7.9
Months of inventory for Distressed properties = 2.9

Single Family Property Types

	ALL	Distressed	Not Distressed	% Distressed
Active	27536	11974	15562	43.48
Pending	9327	6408	2919	68.70
Closed - 12/2009	6485	4276	2209	65.94

Months of inventory for Not Distressed properties = 7
Months of inventory for Distressed properties = 2.8

Arizona #2 in US foreclosures for 2009

According to RealtyTrac, Arizona is second from the top in foreclosures for 2009 with only Nevada beating us out. This is not a list where you want to be on top. The numbers for 2009 were helped out by some government programs that slowed the foreclosure process down. All indicators point to things not getting much better for 2010. As you can see by the numbers, Nevada is in serious trouble with over 10% of all homes in foreclosure.

Here are the top 5: (calculated as a percentage of all homes)

1) Nevada - 10.17%
2) Arizona - 6.12%
3) Florida - 5.93%
4) California - 4.75%
5) Utah - 2.93%

Article from the Phoenix Business Journal

Big Banks Accused of Short Sale Fraud - CNBC

Big Banks Accused of Short Sale Fraud

via cnbc.com

Good article from CNBC. Apparently some second lien holders are asking to be greased on the side, outside of the closing docs (illegal), in turn for approving the short sale. Good work by Diana Olick and thanks for shining a light on this. click here to read the whole article.

FHA Lifts 90 Day Seasoning Requirment

Starting February 1^st for a period of 1 year the FHA will lift the 90 seasoning requirement.  This is fantastic news for investors.  There are still some restrictions and requirements, but the policy change recognizes the needs of the marketplace. Here is what the FHA had to say in their press release:

““In today's market, FHA research finds that acquiring, rehabilitating and the reselling these properties to prospective homeowners often takes less than 90 days. Prohibiting the use of FHA mortgage insurance for a subsequent resale within 90 days of acquisition adversely impacts the willingness of sellers to allow contracts from potential FHA buyers because they must consider holding costs and the risk of vandalism associated with allowing a property to sit vacant over a 90-day period of time.”

The complete press release is here.

Facing Foreclosure? You Have Options

Some of the options available to you are:

Home Affordable Modification Program: You must qualify First …. check if you qualify for HAMP

Short sale: A short sale is when you sell a home for less than what is owed on the mortgage…. you should list it with a real estate professional that's well versed in these types of sales.

Deed in lieu of foreclosure: Essentially handing over the keys to the lender in lieu of actually going through the foreclosure process.

Talk to your lender: The bottom line: If you're struggling to make your monthly mortgage payment or you've missed a payment, make a call to your lender.

To find out more about these options and others visit my Foreclosure Website.

Bank of America to release homes - Business - ReviewJournal.com

Bank of America expects to release about 6,000 foreclosed properties into the Nevada housing market in 2010, or about 500 a month, an executive with the bank said Wednesday. It's part of the so-called "phantom inventory" of foreclosed homes being held by banks as they work out loan modifications and negotiate short sales, two of the more desirable alternatives to foreclosure. Throughout the country, estimates of homes being taken back by Bank of America range from 11,000 to 14,000 a month in the early part of this year to 29,000 to 35,000 by November and December, said John Ciresi, vice president and portfolio manager for Bank of America in Towson, Md. To read the entire article go to Las Vegas Review-Journal.

I expect this to begin happening in Arizona as well. The "phantom inventory" is just too large for banks to continue holding on to. Eventually something has to give. A large influx of properties will definitely have a drag on the prices. 500 properties a month from one lender is HUGE.

Delinquency, Foreclosure Hit One in 7.5

One in every 7.5 homeowners in the U.S. is either delinquent on their loans or in foreclosure, according to Lender Processing Service. In its December 2009 Mortgage Monitor report, Florida-based LPS said total delinquencies, excluding foreclosure, rose to a record 9.97%, an increase of more than 21% from a year earlier. It also found that .... more than 5% of loans have moved to a more delinquent status, while 1.52% have improved. It did note, however, that the number of foreclosure starts has continued to decline, thanks to loss mitigation efforts such as the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program. Thanks to EMII for their report.

I expect this number to grow as long as the unemployment rate stays high. There are also a lot more sub-prime loans getting ready to reset their rates this year.

New Treasury Guidelines for Short Sales

The US Treasury has handed down new guidelines to lenders for dealing with short sales.  In addition to some cash incentives the lenders will be responsible for responding to offers within 10 days.  There are 83 banks that will be required to follow these guidelines.  To read more of the article go to: http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1421797.html

Jim Gruler, CDPE, CNE
Designated Broker
Hunter James Properties
602-618-6728