Market Trends and Condition

Foreclosure rates up 25 percent year-over-year

MIAMI – The number of homeowners caught in the wave of foreclosures in October grew 25 percent nationally over the same month in 2007, data released Thursday showed.

More than 279,500 U.S. homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in October, an increase of 5 percent over September, according to RealtyTrac Inc. One in every 452 housing units received a foreclosure filing, such as a default notice, auction sale notice or bank repossession.

More than 84,000 properties were repossessed in October, RealtyTrac said.

America's Next Foreclosure Capitals
Matt Woolsey, 10.20.08, 4:00 PM ET

The number of homeowners dealing with foreclosure is mounting. Nationwide, almost 766,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice from July through September, according to Realty Trac. That’s up 71% compared to the same time a year before.

And it’s only going to get worse.

Expect already high foreclosure rates in Jacksonville, Naples and Miami to increase by 14% to 15% next year thanks to bottomless home prices and job loss.

The Urban Land Institute recently asked 700 real estate professionals to name the best--and worst--places to invest in commercial real estate in the coming year.

Those surveyed included private developers, Realtors and Real Estate Investment Trust executives. Their answers also apply to the residential market, since the single-family-home sector typically follows the economy. As wages go up and there are more jobs, more people can buy homes. This pushes prices up. Cities were judged on a scale of one to nine (one being an abysmal place to invest and nine being excellent).

Real Estate Markets Most Likely to Rebound
By Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes.com
Nov 3rd, 2008

If you're a homeowner seeing property values plummet, look to the commercial real estate market for solace. It might tell you which areas will recover fastest--and which will likely remain weak.

CAPE CORAL, Florida (Reuters) – Long before she filed for bankruptcy, Ann Neukomm was "under water" -- she owed more on her mortgage than her house was worth -- a situation more and more Americans are finding themselves in.

As the financial crisis hits Main Street America, nearly one in six U.S. homeowners are finding themselves in the same position, threatening the U.S. economy with a new wave of foreclosures and bankruptcies.

US house prices face long fall to bottom:

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The falling US housing market, the trigger for the global financial crisis, is still far from reaching the bottom, promising more pain for consumers and more bad debt for banks, analysts say.

With the real estate bubble burst, prices are sinking under pressure from a glut of unsold homes, particularly in areas like California, Florida and Arizona, rising unemployment and foreclosures, as well as tightening credit conditions.

Hardest and Easiest Places to Sell a Home
Francesca Levy, Forbes.com
Oct 3rd, 2008

As the dismal U.S. housing market slides further downhill--home prices in July posted a 16.3% annual drop--some sellers are unloading their homes to bargain-hunters.

But in cities like Seattle, Jacksonville, Fla., and St. Louis--the hardest major cities in which to sell a home--even sellers who have substantially lowered their prices aren't finding it easy to move their houses.

I have been following the bail out as best I can, but I am unable to determine exactly what this means for us as investors. Right now I have several offers in on short sales requiring bank approval. Does the bailout mean the banks wont be anxious to sell and get these off their books anymore since the govt is going to buy them out? Just really curious as to whether short sales/foreclosures are not the way to go any longer.
Thanks for any input,
Laura

As anything this big is bound to effect the national market, I have located a copy of the 451 page 'bail-out bill', in all its lengthy mumbo-jumbo glory. Obviously there will be changes made between now & when/if they enact this, hopefully some of you contract-speaking types might have the free-time to review and put it into perspective, as this may shed some light on how it will affect the housing trends from this point out. Enjoy!

http://freespeech.vo.llnwd.net/o25/pub/misc/bankerbill.pdf

New home sales tumbled in August to the slowest pace in 17 years, while the average sales price fell by the largest amount on record, demonstrating the depth of the problem that Washington is trying to solve.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that new homes sales fell by 11.5 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 460,000 units, the slowest sales pace since January 1991.