Record Number of Foreclosed Houses on Sale in York
This is one of the most challenging phases in the American economy. The real estate industry is in doldrums and the housing sector is riddled with foreclosures. Prices have plunged to an all-time low. Across York County, the number of houses recorded for sale increased by a whopping 80.3 per cent — from 706 four years ago to 1273 in 2008. If the current trend continues, the number of houses for sale will touch 1412 in 2009.
However, York does not have many foreclosures like other regions in the US. According to reports available with the Sheriff’s Department, most of the foreclosures were from North and West York. In York City, there were 667 foreclosure filings and Hanover had 345. Experts agree that foreclosures happen because of a number of factors. The primary factor is, of course, unemployment. As people lose jobs they are faltering on mortgage payments. After a series of missed payments, banks are taking over the properties.
The CEO of Realtors Association of York and Adams Counties, Steve Snell, says that foreclosures are rampant. Be it expensive or not so top-notch, foreclosures seemed to have hit every category hard. In York, entire neighborhoods may not have been hit hard but the situation is not too good. Many are losing homes either because of divorce or because they have lost jobs. Housing Alliance has conducted a survey about why people are defaulting on mortgage payments. The primary reasons cited are joblessness, plunging income, health issues and increase in loan. There are other reasons too like death, divorce, failure in business and shabby money management.
Whatever be the reason, it cannot be denied that York’s housing market is already riddled with “short-sales” homes. A short sale happens when an owner knows he is in trouble and sells the property at a price which is lower than what he owes to the bank. Such a home can be a blessing to the first-time buyer in search of a bargain.
Snell says that such a home can indeed be an eyesore because a person who couldn’t pay loan could not maintain the property also. Most have even walked away from their homes and the condition inside the homes is pathetic, to say the least. A couple who was looking for a property at a low price had found one in West York whose condition was really bad. The carpet was torn and the kitchen was grimy to say the least.
