Mortgage Rescue Cafe - Foreclosure Blog

It Ain't Over 'til it's Over...

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:27:20 EDT

Oregon has risen to on of the top three states for foreclosures, according to a weekend story in the Oregonian.

Curious News on the Foreclosure Sales Front...

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:46:42 EDT

RealtyTrac is reporting curious numbers today. First, sales (nationally) of bank-owned properties (REO) fell by 33% from in the first quarter from a year ago. Really, I thought.

Sales of homes in the process, but not yet foreclosed, fell by 41%. Oh?

REO properties sold for a national average discount of 34% compared to homes that were not distressed. In other words, bank-owned homes sell at more than a one-third discount compared to people-owned homes. That's a slight increase.

But here's the curious part: Lenders are reposessing homes at record levels in 2010. If sales are down but discounts and inventory up, what does it mean? We can speculate, but let's also wonder what in heck these asset managers are planning to do with so much extra inventory? If sales are off with the tax credit, what will happen post-credit? Scary, IMHO.

For the record, in Oregon: REO as a percentage of sales. 33.55%; Average discount (of ALL distressed homes, including REO), 22.1%; Average REO Discount, 25.73%; and Average Discount of Homes in the Foreclosure Process (such as short sales), 14.75%.

Kind of unsettling, actually. The "shadow inventory" is starting to feel like a giant bowling ball waiting behind the curtain.

Strategic Defaults Redux...

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:44:29 EDT

Research from Experian and others suggests that "strategic defaults" peaked in 2008 but won't stop anytime soon. The term refers to borrowers who can make their payments but shose not to once the home goes seriously underwater.

Strategic defaulters are likely to be investors with several mortgages. No surprise, there. What does raise eyebrows is that those with super-prime credit are more likely to op for strategic default than the overall population of defaulting borrowers.

Other information in the report says that 70% of borrowers with HELOCs defaulted on those before defaulting on the first mortgage. And another group of borrowers pays intermittently.

Interesting times.

Today's Mortgage Rates...

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:02:00 EDT

One of the ways to keep the foreclosure wolves and short sale monkeys from your door is to refinance, if you can. Check out today's rates on Jake Planton's blog. Jake is one of the few I will recommend without hesitation.

If you think you can't refi because of personal financial distress, think again. People with distressed property need to appreciate that lenders do not want to foreclose. They want to loan monly, not hold inventory, and they'll reach as far as they can to keep people out of foreclosure.

OK, I can calready hear it--if they're so great, why do they fool around so long with loan modification requests or take forever with short sale approvals? Well, at least part of it is because the departments who do loan mods and all that are the Loss Mitigation departments, who are still overloaded and understaffed. Those folks don't do refi's.

And they send you to the department who does do that, and they have a lot of time on their hands. If you're underwater with a crushing loan, it's worth a shot. These rates are amazing and it's worth trying for.

Short sales or Foreclosures Today? Fuhgeddaboutit!...

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 12:53:33 EDT

My son, Ben, made the following post today on Facebook:

"Dear Soccer Gods,

This time I promise to drink more beer if you let the United States Soccer Team win. You have been so nice thus far. I also promise to hug 4 people and tell them I love them. Furthermore, I will even hug one person I hate and tell them I love them too... Also, I promise to go to work on time if you let them win. Last, if you could email the winning lottery numbers I would like that too."

His mother taught him well, huh?

Oh, by the way--help with short sales, foreclosures, etc., today is before 11:30 a.m. and after 1:30 p.m.

Quick Stats...

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:16:51 EDT

Chicago Title assembled this data from the RMLS market reports.

PORTLAND METRO

Single Family Residential

53% were three-bedroom, avg price $251,737
45% closed in 30 days or less
18% closed in 121 days or more
46% of buyers used conventional financing/32% used FHA
Closings were up from last month by 2.9%
Total dollar volume decreased by $118,000 from April

Condominiums

10% sold were in the $200,000-$249900 range, avg price $244,721
21% closed in 121 days or more
40% closed in 30 days or less
35% of buyers used conventional financing, 18% used FHA
Closings were up 17.5%
Volume increased more than $13 million from April

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Single Family Residential

58% were three bedrooms, avg. price $241,505
42% closed in 30 days or less
17$ closed in 121 days or more
50% of buyers used conventionalfinancing, 30% used FHA
Closings decreased by about 1%
Total volume decreased by about $10 million from April

Condominiums

9% were in the $140,000-$159,999 range, avg.price $143,939
40% closed in 30 days or less
21% closed in 121 days or more
33% of buyers used conventional financing, 37% FHA
Closings incresed neaarly 18%
Dollar volume increased by $1.5 million

Fannie Cracking Down on Strategic Foreclosure...

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:05:39 EDT

We've been hearing today that Fannie Mae is cracking down on people walking away from their underwater homes by going after them in court. Apparently, the practice of people who can afford payments but look at their mortgages exceeding their home prices and decide to walk is becoming a problem.

In Oregon, most first mortgages are excempt from deficiency judgments, which any lender (or insurer likie Fannie Mae) would have to seek in court. Most borrowers who walk can probably escape Fannie's pique.

But Fannie Mae is also saying they won't insure a loan from someone who walks for seven years, whereas they will, in two years, for someone who goes through the HAFA/HAMP process and either short sells or gives a deed-in-lieu.

Something to think about.

Good News, Bad News...

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:23:14 EDT

First the bad news: Home sales take a dive following the expiration of the tax credit.

The good news (posted earlier at Terradigm):

Hottest Ticket in Town

by William Metzker on June 23, 2010

The World Cup soccer match between the U.S. and Algeria has got to go down as one of the best ever, for drama and tension if not for scoring. Both teams came out firing on all cylinders using the whole field with long passes and breakout speed. And it didn’t let up fo the whole ninety-plus minutes.

The U.S.’s Clint Dempsey appeared to score early on, but the goawas disallowed with a questionable offsides call. Both teams had several shots on goal after that, with the U.S. creating a couple of fabulous opportunities but not finishing them. The scrore was nil at the half, at which time the Americans learned that England had scored a goal to move on to the next draw, dashing American hopes should they tie Algeria. After muffing several more opportunities in a very high-stakes formation with an additional attacker, the redoubtable Landon Donovan scored in the ninetieth minute or so.

All of which is a backdrop to the point of this posting, which is the coming of age of the Portland Timbers. I’ll admit it. I love the game and would love more than anything else to own season tickets. Major League soccer may not yet be on a par with baseball or football in the American psyche, but I’m convinced that it’s pretty close with people forty and under, who grew up with the game. Having a major league team vaults Portland into the future and it may be the envy of cities because of it.

Portland’s growing cachet as an understated cool place to be is greatly enhanced by the existence of the Timbers. It’s a definite 21st century move. If you live in Portland, good. If you want to buy a home in Portland, good. If you want to sell a home–well, hmmm. Hang on, and the buyers will come.

The Timbers, especially if they do reasonably well, will actually help boost house prices by augmenting the demand.

And thanks to the U.S. team members for the fabulous performance today. You did your country proud, you did yourselves proud.

And not coincidentally, your win buffed a bit more the diamond that is Portland. Thanks, guys!

May Home Sales...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:36:44 EDT

Inman News is reporting May home sales are up 19%. Thats good, especially considering that pricing is still off. Once the excess supply of homes goes down, prices will stabilize and maybe even start to go up a bit.

If you're having trouble makig your mortgage payments and don't want to go into foreclosure, be sure to call. Initial consultations don't cost anything.

One Day You're Up and the Next day You're......

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:31:48 EDT

CoreLogic is a leading provider of information, analytics and business services. It released its Home Price Index today showing that annual home prices in the U.S. increased in April.

Nationally, prices were up. In Oregon, unfortunately, they were down at minus 2.6% Behind the data, IMHO, is the fact that an inordinate number of sales were to first time buyers, who buy homes at the low end.

But still, the same thing might be said of every state.

The state with the biggest price increase was Hawaii, with prices appreciating more than 13%. Although I have no idea what a profile of a first-timer looks like in Hawaii, I have to doubt they felt the same pressure as Oregon.

To read the entire report, click here.