The majority of properties listed on RealtyTrac are single-family residences, but many commercial and multi-family foreclosures are also available if you know how and where to look.

You can search by property type using the advanced search, accessible from your My RealtyTrac page; however, it’s probably more convenient to just click on the "Modify Your Search” link at the top of any search results page after you already have selected the county, city or zip code you want to search.

In the Modify Your Search dropdown, select “Multi Family Home” to search for all sizes of multi-family properties or “Commercial” to search for all types of commercial properties. If you want to run an even more specific property type search, you can click on “Other” and then enter a specific property type code. To see a complete list of codes, click on the “Code” link.

For instance, if you want to search for just multi-family properties with five or more units, you can select “Other”, type RAPT in the text box and then click the SEARCH button.

In this case, there were a total of 44,262 matches in Miami-Dade County before narrowing down by property type, but only a total of 150 matches when the search was narrowed down to just multi-family properties with five or more units.

Recession eases; GDP dip smaller than expected
July 31, 2009, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The economy sank at a pace of just 1 percent in the second quarter of the year, a new government report shows. It was a better-than-expected showing that provided the strongest signal yet that the longest recession since World War II is finally winding down.

Double-digit unemployment hits 41 markets
July 30, 2009, Houston Business Journal

What a difference a year makes. Forty-one of the nation’s 100 major labor markets are now saddled with double-digit unemployment rates, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A year ago all 100 markets were in single digits. The highest jobless rate as of mid-2008 was 9.6 percent in Fresno, Calif. Fresno is now up to 15.2 percent unemployment, and one market is even higher. Detroit’s current rate is 17.1 percent.

Arizona Senator calls for repeal of his foreclosure bill allowing lenders to go after deficiencies
July 29, 2009, Arizona Republic Real Estate Blog

Legislation makes many homeowners in foreclosure liable to lenders for the difference between their mortgage and what a lender can recoup from selling the home. f it isn’t repealed in the current session, the bill becomes law on Sept. 30th. Valley real estate attorneys say they are already receiving calls from out-of-state lenders asking about the legislation and if it will help them recoup losses on foreclosures. Lenders have said they will hold off on some foreclosures until after Sept. 30th to go after borrowers’ other assets.

California's default rate soars to 9.5%
July 31, 2009, Los Angeles Times

About 1 in 10 Californians with a home loan is now in default, and there's growing evidence that the mortgage meltdown is spreading to commercial real estate.

The home mortgage delinquency rate -- the percentage of borrowers who have missed several payments and are in the first stage of foreclosure -- climbed in June to 9.5% in California and 9.9% in Los Angeles County, according to First American CoreLogic.

Deutsche Bank Chief Expects ‘Next Wave’ of Defaults
July 31, 2009, The New York Times DealBook blog

Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Josef Ackermann said that rising delinquencies among consumer and corporate borrowers are the “next wave” of the financial crisis and may affect banks that have avoided losses so far, Bloomberg News reported.


FHA announces plan to modify troubled mortgages
July 30, 2009, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Obama administration's plan to help homeowners rework unaffordable mortgages has excluded a major source of home loans -- until now.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced Thursday that the Federal Housing Administration was bringing its mortgage modification program in line with the administration's Making Home Affordable program, creating a new FHA-Home Affordable Modification Program. The agency has released a mortgagee letter and guidelines, and expects all servicers to implement the changes by Aug. 15.

Receivers' Catch: Foreclosures
The Wall Street Journal

Some banks are starting to bypass foreclosure on large, troubled real-estate developments and instead are throwing the properties into receivership, a move intended to reduce some of the headaches associated with taking over problem assets.

When banks foreclose on delinquent borrowers, they often plan to sell the property to new owners. But while holding the properties, banks are required to maintain them and pay all fees and taxes associated with the real estate. In some towns, banks that hold foreclosed residential property may be fined as much as $1,000 a day for code violations or even be subject to arrest.

Banks Asked to Ramp Up Loan Help
The Washington Post

Senior administration officials pressed executives from the nation's largest banks Tuesday to speed help to distressed borrowers after a frustrating start to the government's foreclosure-prevention effort and set a goal of more than doubling the number of homeowners receiving aid by November.

After a series of meetings with top banking executives, Treasury Department officials said they want lenders to modify 500,0000 mortgages by Nov. 1. Since the program, known as Making Home Affordable, began in March, it has recorded about 200,000 loan modifications.

Recovery Signs in Housing Market Stir Some Hope
The New York Times

After a plunge lasting three years, houses have finally become cheap enough to lure buyers. That, in turn, is stabilizing prices, generating hope that the real estate market is beginning to recover.

Eight cities, including Chicago, Cleveland, Denver and San Francisco, showed price increases in May, up from four in April and one in March, according to data released Tuesday. Two other cities, Charlotte, N.C., and New York, were flat.

US mortgage applications drop as refinancing loses steam
Reuters

NEW YORK - U.S. mortgage applications fell for the first time in four weeks, driven by a drop in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates climbed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Applications for loans to buy a home, an early indicator of sales, were flat. Lack of interest for purchase loans does not bode well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market, which has otherwise been showing signs of stabilization.

We're No. 1: U.S. consumer confidence is worst in Far West
Los Angeles Times

Deepening pessimism in the Western states may have helped undermine the latest U.S. consumer confidence report.

The Conference Board’s July confidence index eased to 46.6 from 49.3 in June, the second straight monthly decline, the economic research group said Tuesday.

Mortgage Insurers Tackle Foreclosures
DSnews

As unemployment and home foreclosures continue to rise and threaten the economic recovery, the mortgage insurance industry is stepping up its ongoing efforts to keep families in their homes.

According to a statement from the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) the industry has been at the forefront in developing systems and procedures to support the administration’s Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). While these programs are in their early stages, MICA says initial results have been encouraging.

U.S. Foreclosure Effort May Be Falling Short
The Washington Post

The Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program may fall short of its goal of helping up to 4 million homeowners stay in their homes, according to report released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office.

This "projection may be overstated," the report said, noting that there were gaps in some of the data used to reach that government estimate for the Making Home Affordable program, which was launched in March. Under the program, lenders are eligible for taxpayer subsidies for lowering the payments of distressed borrowers. But "not all homeowners offered a loan modification will remain current on their modified mortgages -- further reducing the number of homeowners that may avoid foreclosure through the" program, the GAO report said.

Fed Unveils Rules to Protect Borrowers
The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve on Thursday proposed sweeping new consumer protections for mortgages and home-equity loans.

The proposals seek to overhaul the timing and content of disclosures to consumers, and to ban controversial side payments to mortgage brokers for steering customers to higher-cost loans.

Mortgage relief efforts are criticized
The Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington -- Federal programs aimed at modifying loans to stem foreclosures aren't working, witnesses told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, and some lawmakers called on Congress again to pass a bill allowing bankruptcy judges to modify home loans -- a procedure known as mortgage cram-downs.

Separately, the Federal Reserve took steps to make lending terms more understandable as part of its efforts to avoid another mortgage meltdown, which triggered the deep recession worldwide.

Are Banks Holding a Shadow Inventory of Homes?
The Wall Street Journal

The number of homes listed for sale in several housing markets fell last month to levels last seen at the start of the housing downturn. That’s raising hopes that several of the hardest-hit housing markets may be stabilizing.

But the housing cynic may wonder: how much does that have to do with banks holding foreclosed properties off the market to prevent a new glut of properties from hitting the market?

Survey shows lenders still cautious
Inman News

Nearly three out of four major U.S. banks tightened their underwriting standards for residential mortgage loans in the 12 months ending March 31, and one in five discontinued or planned to discontinue one or more retail mortgage products.

While not unexpected, those and other findings of an annual survey by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency demonstrate the extent of a second consecutive year of tightened lending standards following four years of eased underwriting.

US mortgage applications climb but job fears weigh
Reuters

NEW YORK - U.S. mortgage applications rose despite a jump in borrowing costs last week, but still bounced around the year's lows with unemployment fears depressing demand.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's total loan applications index rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent to 528.9 last week, even as 30-year mortgage rates rose by about 1/4 percentage point to 5.31 percent.

Freddie Mac Taps Finance Veteran as Fourth CEO in a Year
The Washington Post

Freddie Mac named Charles E. Haldeman Jr. on Tuesday as its new chief executive, the fourth person in a year to hold the top job at the federally controlled mortgage finance giant.

After a year of tumult at McLean-based Freddie Mac, Haldeman will oversee the direction of the company as Congress and the Obama administration mull how to restructure it and its larger rival, District-based Fannie Mae. The government seized both companies in September, installed new leadership and has since been using them to prop up the housing market.

Doubts Slow Financial Regulation Overhaul on Capitol Hill
The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's effort to swiftly overhaul supervision of financial markets is running into trouble on Capitol Hill, with some Democrats balking at key elements of the plan.

Democrats are unsure they can muster enough votes to support the administration's plan to create a new consumer-products regulator, and expand the powers of the Federal Reserve. On Tuesday, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, who chairs the House Financial Service Committee, delayed until September a vote on a regulator to oversee consumer products, such as mortgages and credit cards.