Foreclosures Double While Bank Repossessions Triple

The picture across the country is grim – in June foreclosure numbers were more than double (53%) while the bank repossession numbers tripled from what it was a year before. Bank seizures badly mauled the real estate market eroding the value of all the houses waiting on the shop shelves to be sold. Higher interest rates forced many to succumb to foreclosures.

One in 501 houses in USA calculating to 252,000 houses slipped into the foreclosure net. RealtyTrac notes that bank seizure rose by 171% since this California based company started tracing operations in January 2005. Mark Zandy of Moody’s Economy said that the job market is shrinking and the equity of the properties of house owner’s is dwindling. Lenders are unwilling to talk when the worth of the house falls below the amount of the loan. It is a no go situation for the foreclosure victims.

Since the Depression of the 1930’s foreclosure situation is at its worst commented Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac. In April there was a record fall in the real estate market and this is pushing more people into foreclosures. More foreclosures mean more fall in prices – a vicious cycle. Sharga fears that before the year draws to an end there will more than a million foreclosed houses representing about one fourth or one third of all the houses waiting to be sold in the country. More than half of those with sub-prime loans will have a negative equity on their houses by the end of this year. This will increase to 63% in 2009 said Rod Dubitsky of Credit Suisse.

The foreclosure crisis has made mortgage rules stricter and this is preventing those with floating loans to refinance. Credit Suisse predicts that by the close of 2012, 2.7 million sub-prime mortgage loan holders will be foreclosed upon by the lenders. It is expected to peak by the third quarter of this year – 2008. Since the spring of 2006 equity on houses have been wiped out to the tune of $3.5 trillion.

All combined there is glut in the real estate market of unsold properties. The Congress is trying to insure as much as $300 billion to refinance mortgage and save about 2 million borrowers from foreclosure. But the real long-term way in which the process can be reversed is if the housing market starts to turn around. All other measures will only prolong the inevitable. It is almost sure that house prices will decline by another 5% or 10%.

Search Foreclosure Listings

• California Foreclosure Listings
• Los Angeles Foreclosure Listings
• Pasadena Foreclosure Listings
• San Diego Foreclosure Listings
• San Francisco Foreclosure Listings

Search Images

Related Posts

• Home for Sale in Marion, Illinois
• Farm/Ranch for Sale in Birch Run, Michigan
• Foreclosure Crisis More Local Than National
• Cloud Hanging Over Realtytrac Data
• Foreclosures Rising In Metro Areas