Daily Archives: June 14, 2013

Bank Crack Down Bolsters Foreclosure Inventory | Bedford NY Real Estate

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nvestors desperate for foreclosures to buy got a break in May as banks cracked down on overdue defaulters, increasing starts and repossessing homes occupied by defaulters.

The monthly increase in overall foreclosure activity was caused largely by an 11 percent month-over-month increase in bank repossessions (REOs), although REO activity was still down 29 percent from a year ago.

REO activity increased from the previous month in 33 states — including North Carolina (up 60 percent), Oregon (up 57 percent), Wisconsin (up 44 percent), Illinois (up 44 percent), Colorado (up 23 percent), and Michigan (up 19 percent). REO activity increased 9 percent from the previous month in non-judicial states and was up 13 percent from the previous month in judicial states.

Among the five lenders involved in last year’s national mortgage settlement, all but one (Citi) posted monthly increases in REO activity, indicating that temporary stoppages of foreclosure sales announced during the month by some of the lenders involved in the settlement had little lasting impact on the number of completed foreclosures for the month.

U.S. foreclosure starts increased 4 percent from the previous month but were still down 33 percent from a year ago. Foreclosure starts increased from the previous month in 26 states and were up from a year ago in 14 states, including Maryland (up 229 percent), Connecticut (up 122 percent), Hawaii (up 108 percent), Arkansas (up 84 percent), New Jersey (up 82 percent), Nevada (up 81 percent), Washington (up 53 percent), Pennsylvania (up 26 percent) and New York (up 13 percent).

 

Bank Crack Down Bolsters Foreclosure Inventory | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

Zillow: Luxury Homes Lead Inventory Declines | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Zillow reported today that the greatest year-over-year decreases in inventory have been among more expensive homes, with the availability of top-tier and middle-tier properties each falling 15.7 percent year-over-year. The number of bottom-tier properties for sale on Zillow nationwide fell only 2.5 percent in early June compared to June 2012.

The analysis counters the conventional belief that supplies of lower tier homes have declined more than higher priced homes due to the effects of negative equity, which is more prevalent among mid and lower income homeowners, and declining numbers of distress sales, which are generally lower priced homes.

Other sources show that it is taking two or three times longer to sell higher priced homes than the average priced home. The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing reported Tuesday that the average days on market for homes priced over $500,000 was 161 in the first week of June. The National Association of Realtors reported the median time on market for all homes was 46 days in April, down sharply from 62 days in March, and is 45 percent faster than the 83 days on market in April 2012. The median age of inventory for all homes on Realtor.com was 79 days in May.

 

Zillow: Luxury Homes Lead Inventory Declines | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

Recovery Speeds Homeowners to Positive Equity | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Four times more homeowners returned to positive equity in the first quarter of year as the recovery drove home values higher across the nation.

Some 850,000 more homeowners with mortgages are no longer under water, bringing the total number of mortgaged residential properties with equity to 39 million. However, 9.7 million, or 19.8 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage, were still in negative equity at the end of the first quarter of 2013 with a total value of $580 billion. This figure is down from 10.5 million*, or 21.7 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, according to CoreLogic.

The national aggregate value of negative equity decreased more than $50 billion to $580 billion at the end of the first quarter from $631 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. This decrease was driven in large part by an improvement in home prices.

Of the 39 million residential properties with positive equity, 11.2 million have less than 20 percent equity. Borrowers with less than 20 percent equity, referred to as “under-equitied,” may have a more difficult time obtaining new financing for their homes due to underwriting constraints. At the end of the first quarter of 2013, 2.1 million residential properties had less than 5 percent equity, referred to as near-negative equity. Properties that are near negative equity are at risk should home prices fall. Under-equitied mortgages accounted for 23 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide in the first quarter of 2013. The average amount of equity for all properties with a mortgage is 32.8 percent.

 

Recovery Speeds Homeowners to Positive Equity | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

Competitive Offers Ease on West Coast | Armonk Real Estate

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Multi-bid offers have declined from 73.3 percent of offers written in April to 69.5 percent of offers written in May by Redfin agents, basically the same as May 2012, when 69.3 percent of Redfin offers went into bidding war. Most Redfin agents are located in West Coast markets.

The market’s easing is likely a result of the substantial monthly increase in inventory seen in April, the Seattle-based brokerage reported in its May 2013 Bidding War Report, which is based on statistics compiled from 2,000 offers written by Redfin agents in May. The number of homes for sale grew 6.4 percent from March 2013, the largest monthly gain since March 2010. Interest rates, which rose slightly in May, could also play a role in the declining demand seen last month.

Despite easing competition, seven out of 10 Redfin offers still faced multiple bids last month, causing homebuyers and their agents to use creative strategies.

Four of the top five most competitive markets were all in California: San Francisco (87.9% of Redfin offers faced bidding wars), Los Angeles (86.1%), Orange County (83.9%) and San Diego (72.6%). Boston rounded out the top five with 68.1% of Redfin offers facing competition.

 

Competitive Offers Ease on West Coast | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.