Distressed Properties Sale Articles

The number of distressed property owners is still surging in San Luis Obispo County, California, based on data from a real estate research company based in San Diego.

In the last quarter of 2009, the number of homeowners in default soared by 41 percent to 436 households, compared to 309 in 2008. Meanwhile, the number of homes that were listed for foreclosure sales reached 245 units, up by almost 35 percent from 182 during the same period in 2008. Compared to the third quarter, however, defaults and foreclosure sales in the fourth quarter in 2009 were lower.

There were 539 default notices in the third quarter, up from the 370 notices filed in the third quarter in 2008. Meanwhile, the number of homes listed for foreclosure sales fell to 223 homes, down from 248 in 2008.

Across California, the number of default notices dropped by more than 24 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, a sign seen by some analysts as the start of recovery.

However, if statewide distressed property figures in the last quarter of 2009 are compared to data in 2008, the results seem to be pointing to more foreclosures this year.

More than 84,500 default notices were given to homeowners across California in the last quarter of 2009, marking a 12.4-percent rise from the 75,230 notices sent out in the last quarter of the previous year. The number of trustee deeds also increased, with more than 51,000 homes listed for foreclosure sales in the last quarter of 2009, an increase of 10.6 percent from the 75,230 homes listed for trustee sales in 2008.

According to the San Diego-based researchers, more mortgage loans would fall into default in Riverside, Merced and Stanislaus counties this year largely because of unemployment problems. The counties expected to resolve their default problems this year are San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo.

The researchers, however, could not determine how much of the changes in number and in the direction of mortgage defaults during the last quarter of 2009 were driven by market conditions, changes in foreclosure policies by lenders, or the existence of local-government mandatory mediation programs.

In a foreclosure report released by another firm, distressed property numbers in the San Luis Obispo area soared in 2009 by 63.1 percent from 2008. Nearly 3,000 homeowners or 2.6 percent of all households in the metro area were notified of default or foreclosure in 2009.

The list of distressed homes is now growing sharply in cities previously untouched by the foreclosure crisis in the early months of the meltdown.

While the foreclosure pace is now slowing down in foreclosure-battered metro areas like Las Vegas in Nevada, Cape Coral in Florida and Merced in California, foreclosure filings are now increasing in number in cities like Provo in Utah, Fayetteville in Arkansas, Portland in Oregon and Rockford in Illinois. These cities posted foreclosure rates higher than the nationwide average rate in 2009.

Markets like Minneapolis in Minnesota, Seattle in Washington and Honolulu in Hawaii also posted foreclosure rates more than double the nationwide rate.

While cities in the Sand States – Arizona, California, Nevada and Florida – suffered greatly from foreclosures largely because of risky types of mortgage lending like subprime and adjustable-rate lending, previously strong cities are now experiencing high rates of foreclosure activity because of job losses.

In Gulfport communities in Mississippi, the year-over-year increase in foreclosure filings hit a staggering 784 percent. In Houma, Louisiana, foreclosures shot up by 379 percent, and in Roanoke, Virginia, filings soared by 352 percent.

Nevertheless, despite the big growth of the list of distressed homes in these areas, their foreclosure rates were still very low compared to most other areas in 2009. They still occupied the bottom levels of rankings based on foreclosure rates.

In contrast, Boise in Idaho, which posted a 103-percent increase in filings – much lower compared to Gulfport – shot up to the 24th place in a ranking of 203 metro areas based on foreclosure rates. Boise had the highest rate among cities not within the Sand States.

The lowest foreclosure rate in 2009 was posted by Burlington in Vermont and Utica in New York, each of which had only 0.05 percent of housing units receiving foreclosure or default notices. These cities largely escaped the ravages of the foreclosure crisis because they did not experience excessive jumps in home prices during the housing boom.

In Burlington, the home price median remained below $230,000 during the boom, and in Utica, the median sales price never exceeded $120,000 at any time.

According to housing analysts, most cities which did not experience yearly double-digit price jumps during the boom posted only a few defaults and foreclosures, and if they are able to preserve their fairly strong employment levels this year, only a few of their housing units will go into list of distressed homes.

Distressed property prices are still haunting home builders, based on interviews with builders and economists who attended the International Builders Show held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Distressed house listings surged by more than 871,000 in 2009, based on a report released by a California-based foreclosure tracking company.

A distressed property for sale by an owner in the Bay Area retail sector may turn into a great investment for another if one or all of five struggling retail centers in the area do not recover from their Chapter 22 bankruptcy filings.

Distressed houses for sale spurred business success for two enterprising businessmen in North Chicago who never thought they would attain the level of financial success they are enjoying now.

Distressed properties continued dominating the resale market in Arizona in November, according to a report from the Arizona State University.

Distressed houses for sale continue to rise in number in Colorado, based on data from the Colorado Division of Housing.

A cheap foreclosed home can be found easily in Miami-Dade because of thousands of foreclosure homes available for sale in the county.

A cheap foreclosed home in Las Vegas will yield a solid profit in 5 to 10 years, according to many investors who have been competing to buy some more discounted foreclosures across the city.