Between February 2012 and February 2013, Texas saw double-digit declines in the number of foreclosure filings, starts and completions, according to the latest analysis by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.
Over the 28 days ended Feb. 28, 2013, a total of 5,411 foreclosure notices were filed in the state of Texas — down 43.36 percent from the number of filings posted in February 2012.
Katonah NY Leads Area With Low Inventory | RobReportBlog
Katonah 93 homes for sale – 13.61 months of inventory
South Salem 70 homes for sale – 15.55 months of inventory
North Salem 53 homes for sale – 16.74 months of inventory
source: Hgar mls
Boarded-up home image via Shutterstock.
The number of mortgages that are delinquent or in foreclosure is declining, but those in the pipeline are years away from clearing, according to a report from Lender Processing Services Inc. released today.
Of all the loans in the foreclosure process in January 2012, 42 percent were still in the foreclosure process a year later, the report said. Only 22 percent had become real estate-owned (REOs) and 11 percent had been liquidated through short sales or deeds-in-lieu.
In states where the foreclosure process is handled by the courts, 58 percent of loans in foreclosure are more than two years past due. In judicial foreclosure states, that figure is 33 percent. Judicial foreclosure states have three times as much foreclosure inventory as judicial foreclosure states.
In judicial foreclosure states, it takes an average of 62 months (more than five years) for a foreclosure to clear, almost twice as long as in a non-judicial foreclosure state: 34 months, or nearly three years.
Broken down by state, judicial states New York and New Jersey had the longest timelines: 607 months (more than 50 years) and 483 months (more than 40 years), respectively. By comparison, in non-judicial Texas and Virginia, the averages were 40 and 39 months, respectively.
But the difference between judicial and non-judicial states is decreasing due to recently enacted “judicial-like” legislation in some non-judicial states, the report said. In Nevada, legislation has resulted in a jump from a 27-month timeline in June 2012 to 57 months at the end of January, and in Massachusetts, the average timeline has risen from 75 to 171 months since last January, the report said.
The 2011 and 2012 droughts across much of the United States may be a harbinger of things to come, and “evidence is showing that many parts of the country may continue to experience moderate to severe drought in 2013 and possibly for several additional years,” the Denver-based American Water Works Association reported.
If that wasn’t scary enough, in December some 61.9 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in moderate to exceptional drought conditions, up from 28.2 percent a year ago, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a daily survey produced by a group of academic and government organizations.
I would guess it’s time we all turned our attention to saving water at our places of residence, which I feel some of us — but not enough! — are already doing. However, the big flaw in trying to target the single-family homeowner is that so many of us live in multifamily dwellings, either apartments or condominiums.
When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its WaterSense program at the end of 2009 it focused on new single-family residences. After watching the program slowly taking root, on Jan. 1 the EPA launched a similar labeling guidance program for new multifamily buildings.
China called for higher down payments and interest rates for second-home mortgages in cities with “excessively fast” price gains and ordered stricter enforcement of taxes on sales as authorities step up a three- year campaign to cool the property market.
The People’s Bank of China’s regional branches may implement the measures in accordance with the price-control targets of local governments, the State Council, or Cabinet, said in a statement on its website yesterday. Cities facing “relatively large” pressure from rising house prices must further tighten home-purchase limits, according to the statement.
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) — Jim Chanos, founder and president at Kynikos Associates Ltd., and Stephen Roach, a senior lecturer at Yale University and former non-executive chairman for Morgan Stanley Asia, talk about China’s economy. Chanos also discusses U.S. tax policy, the European economy and Herbalife Ltd.’s business model. They speak with Trish Regan and Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television’s “Street Smart.” (Source: Bloomberg)
China’s new-home prices rose for a ninth straight month in February, SouFun Holdings Ltd. (SFUN) said yesterday, 10 days after outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao told local authorities to “decisively” curb property speculation and ordered cities with rapid price gains to limit home purchases. Li Keqiang, No.2 in the Communist Party hierarchy, is set to replace Wen during legislative meetings that start March 5.
“This is a final effort by Premier Wen to put a stamp on the direction of policy before he leaves office and the message is clear: there should be no relaxation of property market controls,” Mark Williams, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London, said by e-mail. “This is a sensible policy. Even allowing for the construction slowdown of last year, the real estate sector remains on an unsustainable path.”
Property controls “are still in a crucial period and expectations of further gains in housing prices are increasing,” the State Council said.
Sales of new single-family homes rose 28.9 percent on an annual basis in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.
That represents a 15.6 percent increase from December, and was the fastest pace of new-home sales for a January since 2008, blogger Bill McBride pointed out on Calculated Risk.
It was, however, the ninth weakest January in records going back to 1973, McBride noted. Nearly three times as many new homes sold in January 2005.
The median sales price of new homes sold in January was $226,400, up 2.1 percent from a year ago, but down 9.4 percent from December.
The Census Bureau estimated that 150,000 new homes were on the market at the end of December, representing a 4.1-month supply. Less than six months’ supply is considered normal, McBride said.
North Salem, Katonah Lead in Highest Ave. Price per Foot | RobReportBlog Price per foot Katonah $418.00 Pound Ridge $348.00 South Salem $278.00 Mt Kisco $332.00 Chappaqua $366.00 North Salem $440.00 Armonk $384.00 Bedford $387.00
