Insatiable Appetite Of Foreclosures Now Reaching For Affluent House Owners
The foreclosure crisis had kicked off with ensnaring low and middle-income borrowers but now its insatiable appetite is reaching out for the affluent house owners as well.
In Dallas-Fort Worth the latest trend noticeable is that more million dollar plus houses are sliding into the foreclosure net. During the first six months of 2008 more than 70 houses valued at over $1 million have been included in foreclosure listings. This is twice the number of the previous year during the same period. These are new findings noted by Foreclosure Listing Service of Addison.
The houses falling within the bracket of $500,00 and $999,999 going into foreclosure have increased by 53%. Those valued between $300,000 and $499,999 jumped by 39% this year, 2008. It calculates to the scary figure of one out of 59 house owners getting attacked by foreclosure during the first half of the current year.
In North Texas the foreclosure situation has been fairly bad largely due to lax lending practices that permitted people to move into houses they could ill afford to maintain and keep. The sub-prime lending is blamed as the root cause for foreclosures. Initially it had low teaser rates with practically no down payments that later doubled and sometimes trebled. Foreclosures became inevitable. The sliding economy also made its own negative contributions to the woeful situation.
During the first six months of the current year 25,500 foreclosure listings have been noted in the four county regions. This calculates to a four-time increase from 2000. Most of the units sitting in the foreclosure market have a price tag below the average market rate. The lenders are pressed down with so many houses that they are eager to dispose of these anyhow. Most of the foreclosed houses this year are valued at $200,00 or less. However the numbers of expensive houses appearing for auction sales have steadily increased. There is a sharp jump from the previous year as lending laws have become more stringent and people are unable to get loans to buy houses. It is more difficult to get loan sanctions for high priced houses – even for those clients who have good credit ratings. The jumbo loans hover around $417,000. Realtors are witnessing the arrival of a steady stream of high-ended properties. Some are in shipshape condition. Most of these were constructed in 2004 and later.
Related Posts
