Increase in Foreclosures Lead To Rise In Activities Of Rental Agents

Posted in Foreclosure Homes, July 18th, 2008 |

In the Tri-Cities foreclosures are increasing and this is leading to a rise in the activities of rental agents. In 2007 there were 1,098 foreclosure postings in Saginaw marking a jump of 23%. In Bay County there were 403 evictions showing an increase of 9%. In Midland the tally of foreclosures was 207 – 6% more than the 2006.

The Landlord Association of Saginaw has taken note of the pressure on rental units. Butch Burden the president of the association said that this is but natural because “people have to have some place to live.”

The renters are becoming very choosy about the place where they want to stay. Most want to stay in the Midland on the west side of Saginaw and the suburban areas. Mike Haman of Haman Property Management says he has rental units in Saginaw Township, Vassar, Carrollton Township and Thomas Township. He comments that rental market has picked up and in the forthcoming years it will become more intense. Things are picking up but it will be about a year before the effects can be really gauged.

RealtyTrac reported that in Michigan there was an increase of foreclosures by 25% in comparison to May. This has made Michigan rank fifth in the national foreclosure race. In May it had ranked 9th. In Michigan the May foreclosure rate was 1:353.

RealtyTrac shows that across the country there were 261,255 foreclosure postings during May marking a 7% rise from April and a huge jump of 48% from May of the previous year. The national foreclosure rate is 1:483 in May – the highest monthly noting since RealtyTrac started collecting data from 2005. May was the third consecutive month that saw a month-by-month increase according to James Saccacio CEO of RealtyTrac. In May default notices increased by 1% and the auction sales were down by 3%. But during this month bank takeover of properties surged ahead marking double digit increases. It is more than double the numbers of May 2007. This calculated to a total number of 700,000 properties owned by the banks.

It also shows the number of families thrown out of their houses by foreclosures. They are rushing to seek rented accommodation. Many investors are finding it profitable to buy discount houses and convert it into rented units. But with so many houses crowding into the real estate market prices are tumbling. This is leading to apprehensions that prices might further fall.