Foreclosed Properties Data Articles

Repossession houses are still increasing in number in Lafayette, Indiana due to a collusion of several factors such as unemployment.

However, according to local analysts, the preponderance of adjustable rate mortgage loans in Tippecanoe County is among the major causes of defaults and foreclosures in the area. They noted that before the housing downturn in 2007, foreclosure activity was already surging in the Lafayette area.

Sharon Morrissey, a loan officer with First Republic Mortgage Corporation, said that a lot of unqualified borrowers were able to borrow during the heydays of housing because ARMs provided them with a way to buy homes with so little money.

Foreclosure filings have been rising in the county over the past 5 years, posting over 50 percent of increase from 457 filings in 2004 to 699 filings in 2009.

Statewide, a total of 41,405 filings were posted in 2009, equivalent to one foreclosure for every 67 housing units in the state. In January, the state of Indiana posted 4,622 filings, equivalent to one foreclosure for every 605 housing units. Both in the 2009 and in the January 2010 foreclosure charts, Indiana ranked 18th according to foreclosure rate.

Out of the more than 4,600 filings statewide in January, a total of 1,261 units were bought back by banks and recorded in their listings of repossession houses. Some of these will be sold through their agents and selected investors; others are set aside for future releases. Lenders have been known to ration out their foreclosure releases to prevent sudden home price falls.

The rise in foreclosure activity in Greater Lafayette has been matching statewide trends, according to Stephanie Reeve, head of the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network. In the fourth quarter of last year, 4.3 percent of all mortgaged homes were in foreclosure, she said.

According to real estate firm owner Sherrie Cocanower, foreclosure properties lower home prices in two ways: overloading the market with lower-priced houses, and cutting down the values of neighboring nondistressed homes, especially when they fall into dilapidated conditions.

Marie Morse, head of Homestead Consulting Services, said record numbers of distressed homes are not getting saved because homeowners give up so easily early during the foreclosure process. She explained that if loan modifications are not approved, the properties can be sold through short sales with the help of distressed property experts to prevent the properties from becoming repossession houses, which can drastically cut down credit scores.

Repossession properties for sale are still surging in Tennessee, based on reports from real estate firms.

In January this year, nearly 4,000 households statewide were hit with delinquency and foreclosure notices, with more than 2,000 of them already evicted or given eviction notices. Although the number marked a 17.8-percent drop from foreclosure actions in December 2009, it marked a nearly 7-percent increase from filings in January 2009, according to the Tennessee Housing Development Authority.

In Chattanooga, the county seat of Hamilton County and the fourth-biggest city in Tennessee, more than 7 percent of all mortgaged houses were in default by three months or more and another 1.7 percent of all households were already notified of delinquency or foreclosure.

In Hamilton County, the pace of foreclosure activity has surged more than three times over the past ten years and marked a 15-percent spike in 2009. During last year, almost four houses were being foreclosed upon every day, according to records from the Hamilton County Register of Deeds.

According to nonprofit housing counselors in Tennessee, the number of repossession properties for sale in Chattanooga and in other parts of Tennessee continued to increase compared to 2009 because of job losses and major family problems such as medical costs.

Jeremy Fitzsimmons, foreclosure counselor at the Homeownership Center of the Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, said he and his teammates are trying their best to help homeowners save their homes, but they cannot do anything if the borrowers have no more jobs to depend on.

Ted Fellman, head of the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, said that in 2009, many lenders held back on their foreclosure actions because of several moratorium programs. Now, he said, foreclosure filings will increase as moratoriums are ended. He, however, contended that foreclosures will not spike in 2010, but will be higher in number than total filings in 2009.

According to reports from the National Association of Realtors, the median sales price for homes in Chattanooga has declined by more than 6 percent or by $8,300 since 2008, making a lot of mortgages underwater. With low property values, more homeowners are not eligible for refinancing under the federal foreclosure prevention program.

Nevertheless, the Tennessee Housing Development Authority is still doing what it can to save as homes as it can from becoming repossession properties for sale. It has helped train foreclosure specialists and has helped promote federal and state anti-fraud campaigns.

Repossession houses contributed substantially to the $3.3 billion loss by banks in Georgia in 2009, according to data released recently by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The total loss almost wiped out the estimated $3 billion earned by Georgia banks in 2007. They also earned the same level of profits in 2005 and in 2006.

The problems in the residential and commercial real estate sectors and the impact of the recession made 63 percent of 305 Georgia banks unprofitable in 2009, based on FDIC records. The percentage marked an increase from 49 percent of banks in 2008 and from 15 percent of banks in 2007.

According to Joe Brannen, president of the Georgia Bankers Association, the bank losses are expected because of the huge exposure of Georgia banks to property loans. They made record profits during the real estate boom, inspiring them to become more aggressive in their lending activities. The housing collapse that followed and the record numbers of repossession houses that arose battered Georgia banks and caused the closure of 32 of them in 2009, the highest number among states.

The banks left standing started repairing their loan policies to save themselves. They no longer renewed risky loans and became very strict in approving new loans. Total bank loans in Georgia last year dropped by 11 percent or by $23 billion.

Most of the loan cuts were made on home construction loans and on business and industrial loans. Based on FDIC data, house construction loans fell by 32 percent or by $12 billion while business and industrial loans fell by 20 percent or by $7.5 billion.

Rhajeev Dhawan, economist at the Georgia State University, said that more than two-thirds of banks in Georgia have been complying with regulatory orders to increase their capital and improve their operations.

The level of new loans has sharply declined because banks are making it difficult for loan applicants to borrow and prospective borrowers are not pursuing their plans because of fears about the unemployment situation and the generally weak business conditions.

However, lending in the small business sector shot up year-over-year by 83 percent in the final quarter of 2009. Since 90 percent of the loan amounts are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, banks are more aggressive in making SBA loans.

The biggest bank loss in Georgia in 2009 was posted by SunTrust, which lost $1.5 billion, followed by Synovus, which lost $907 million. Part of their losses was due to large numbers of repossession houses in their portfolios.

The number of repossession houses is rising in Sacramento due in part to strategies by banks to cut their losses or increase their gains from loans, according to housing advocates and lawyers in the area.

Repossessed homes for sale resurged in the counties of Santa Clara and San Mateo in California in January, according to a foreclosure tracking company.

Repo homes for sale soared in number last year in the Hampton Roads area, a metro area that includes the cities of Newport News, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Hampton. The area is known for its harbor, shipyards, waterfront properties, beaches and U.S. military facilities.

Foreclosed houses caused huge losses in the home building industry across the country, but ironically in Lee County, Florida, these same houses have been helping home builders survive the downturn.

Buy foreclosure properties in California where there are still thousands of foreclosed units in active listings.

If you are new to foreclosed home auction proceedings, do not get into a bidding war especially against long-time bidders who have long been using inside information and their familiarity with proceedings and personalities in the auction sector to achieve their goals.

A foreclosure home for sale has been a means of recovery from financial difficulty for Bay Area real estate flippers Michael LaOrange and Steven Burris and broker Christopher Stafford.