Archive for August, 2006

Foreclosure rates in the Chicago metropolitan area are still quite high, according to a new study. Will County remained the area with the highest foreclosure rate in the city. Grundy and Kendall counties held the lowest rate of foreclosure in the region.

On average, Chicago as a whole is going at a rate of one for every 841 households undergoing some stage of foreclosureand the national average of one for every 1,245 households. Will County, one of the fastest growing housing markets in the area, has led the Chicago region in foreclosures throughout the year, although in June the area saw a 7.5% decline in foreclosures. In fact, Chicago as a whole seems to be experiencing a decline, as the amount of houses entering some stage of foreclosure fell 21.7% during June.

Home sales have also been declining along with foreclosures, which seems to suggest that people are able to hold on to their homes and not been forced into dire financial straits requiring them to sell. However, this can also be attributed to the fact that the real estate market has seen a nationwide slowdown, and with property values falling as well, people are less inclined to purchase when many feel the values could fall much further.

This could mean that it is an optimum time to buy foreclosures in the Chicago, considering that they could become scarce if rates continue to fall. This would affect the values they sell for at auction, since they will be more in demand. Watch the local market in the coming months to see if these trends continue.

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New statistics show that the number of homes entering default is rising severely in several U.S. cities, including Chicago, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Denver.

Defaults in the Chicago area alone rose by 60 percent in the first quarter and were still going up in the second quarter. Indianapolis also has a high rate, with 1 in every 101 homes in default.

During the housing boom of recent years, investors in the Las Vegas and Phoenix areas bought more than 25% of the new property built there. However, now that interest rates are rising and a flooded market has contributed to difficulty in selling, these investors are facing default and foreclosure.

Texas leads the nation with 16,965 foreclosure properties in default.

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Although Tennessee ranked among the nation’s top 10 in 2005 foreclosure rates during the second quarter, Nashville, the state capital, has a rate better than both the state and national averages.

Nashville’s current foreclosure rate stands at one in every 501 homes being foreclosed. Memphis, on the other hand, has a drastically higher rate of 1 in ever 145 homes entering some stage of foreclosure.

This large difference between two cities in the same state is a testament to the fact that while the country is experiencing drastic rises in foreclosure rates, it is not a universal effect, and that the real estate market is holding out in certain regions.

The reasons for this become apparent when you examine the two locations. Nashville and Memphis are two very different cities. Nashville is growing quickly as a result of new economic developments that have happened there over the past few years, attracting citizens, investment, and even a professional football team. Real estate values in the city are still high, because real estate is still in demand. Since the economy is on the rise in Nashville, people may be finding it easier to keep up with rising interest rates than in other areas of the state. Memphis is a different city entirely, with no recent surge in growth or economical strength, so it may be more affected by larger or more regional trends such as rising interest rates and falling home values.

Foreclosure buyers and real estate investors alike can learn from this example. Real Estate markets are largely dependent on local economies and populations, not just by national trends in interest rates. Foreclosures may be rare in Nashville, while they are plentiful in Memphis, but Nashville remains a better place to invest in a foreclosure. The likely return on the property will be higher than it would in Memphis.

This difference between Nashville and the national foreclosure average is growing. While the national average rose slightly from the first to second quarter, Nashville’s dropped nearly 45%.

Research into particular areas of interest and not just general trends is very important when it comes to buying and selling foreclosure property, or any other kind of real estate.

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For the second quarter in a row, Memphis, Tennessee is one of the top 10 major cites with the highest foreclosure rates.

Memphis, which came in at No. 7 on the list, had a total of 3,849 properties that were in some stage of foreclosure during the second quarter of 2006.

Indianapolis, Atlanta and Dallas once again came in as the top three cities with the highest foreclosure rates, as they did in the first quarter.

Houston, Texas was also on the list, and saw a particularly large increase from the first to second quarter as its foreclosure rate rose nearly 40 percent. Dallas, however,

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New statistics show that current foreclosure activity rates across California rose dramatically during the second quarter, marking the biggest difference between first and second quarter rates in 14 years. As usual, rising interest rates are said to be at blame, however many feel that the slowing appreciation in home values has also contributed to foreclosure, since homeowners are not able to build up equity in their homes as quickly as in the past. With equity, those in default have a better chance of being able to refinance or sell their homes before the final stages of foreclosure set in.

20,752 notices of default were issued during the second quarter. This figure is 67.2 percent higher than the same period of 2005, and 10.5 percent higher than the first quarter.

Despite the drastic increase, California’s second quarter statistics are still below the national average for the period. The information should not be taken as more serious than it is either. While the figures seem high in comparison to recent years, we have to realize that in recent years’s

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A new study shows home foreclosures in Oklahoma have jumped 45 percent in the last year. Oklahoma now has the 13th highest foreclosure rate in the nation.

One out of every 476 homes in Tulsa County is under foreclosure, which is more than two-and-a-half times greater than the national average. Tulsa County’s ratio is the highest in the state, slightly above Oklahoma County’s rate of one per 526 homes. This is not surprising, since urban areas around the country seem to have witnessed the highest spikes in the upward trend in foreclosure rates.

As usual, Tulsa’s high foreclosure rate is largely attributed to rising interest rates and variable rate loans. Unliked fixed-rate loans that maintain the same monthly payment through the life of the loan, variable-rate loans change the monthly payment as interest rates change. For people who can’t afford to keep up with the increasing payments, default and a subsequent foreclosure becomes a problem very quickly.

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New statistics indicate that foreclosure activity has dropped off nationwide during the second quarter, marking a 16 percent decrease in foreclosures nationwide as compared to the first quarter of the year. During the second quarter, 272,109 properties nationwide entered some stage of foreclosure.

However, while this is a decline in the current numbers, this figure is still 25 percent higher than the amount of foreclosures during the second quarter of 2005, which shows the foreclosure rate is still soaring. Roughly 1 in every 425 homes across the nation is in some stage of foreclosure.

The states with the highest rates of foreclosure this quarter were Colorado, Georgia and Texas. While Georgia and Texas saw their foreclosure rates dip slightly from the first quarter, Colorado’s rate swelled to move past Georgia as the state with the highest foreclosure rate. The fourth and fifth highest rated states were California and Florida.

While the slight drop may be a good sign for homeowners for now, many feel the worst is yet to come. As more and more adjustable rate mortgages mature over the next year, the climbing interest rates are expected to send many homeowners nationwide into default.

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The Better Business Bureau is trying to raise awareness of real estate fraud in order to combat its recent surge. With interest and foreclosure rates rising, many American homeowners are running into trouble paying off their mortgage, and losing a home through foreclosure looms as a very real threat.

In some cases, people out there may take advantage of homeowners under the guise of saving their him

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