Bidding Wars Are Emerging on Foreclosures
Bidding Wars Are Emerging on Foreclosures
Wall Street Journal
Falling home prices are starting to ignite bidding wars in a few parts of the U.S. as first-time buyers compete with investors for the same foreclosed properties. In most of the nation, the supply of unsold homes continues to swamp demand. Home prices in many markets continue to fall, and foreclosures, which slowed in late 2008 as mortgage companies delayed taking action against delinquent borrowers, are picking up again.
Wall Street Journal
Existing-home sales dropped in March, and the median price was down 12% from a year earlier. Home resales fell by 3.0% to a 4.57 million annual rate from 4.71 million in February, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. The NAR originally reported February sales rose 5.1% to 4.72 million. About 50% of the 4.57 million in March sales were foreclosures and short sales.
Wall Street Journal
Home prices won’t stabilize until late 2010 and will fall another 12.5% from the end of 2008, according to a Fitch Ratings analysis. The projection revises a 10% decline that Fitch had forecasted from the second quarter of 2008. The new estimate puts home prices falling to early 2002 levels, while they’re currently at values seen in mid-2003. Home prices have already declined by 27% nationally, according to the ratings agency, and the revised estimates would create a 36% decline from the housing market’s peak in 2006.
Mortgage Defaults Rise But Homeowners Stay Put
Los Angeles Times
More Californians are missing their mortgage payments — some deliberately — but fewer are having their homes repossessed. The drop in foreclosures follows moratoriums adopted by major banks and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The increase in loan defaults, meanwhile, suggests that rising unemployment and the continuing recession are still claiming fresh victims.