Foreclosures Rise 5 Percent from Summer to Fall

Foreclosures Rise 5 Percent from Summer to Fall
October 15, 2009, The Associated Press

The number of households caught up in the foreclosure crisis rose more than 5 percent from summer to fall as a federal effort to assist struggling borrowers was overwhelmed by a flood of defaults among people who lost their jobs.The foreclosure crisis affected nearly 938,000 properties in the July-September quarter, compared with about 890,000 in the prior three months, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc. That puts foreclosure-related filings on a pace to hit about 3.5 million this year, up from more than 2.3 million last year. “The sheer scale of the problem is preventing the loan modification programs from having the kind of impact we'd all like” said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's senior vice president for marketing.

Ruling Could Undo Thousands of Foreclosures
October 15, 2009, Boston Herald

A real estate judge is refusing to reverse a landmark ruling that opens the door to voiding tens of thousands of Bay State foreclosures dating as far back as 1989. “The foreclosure sales (in question are) invalid because they failed to meet the requirements of (Massachusetts law),” Land Court Judge Keith Long wrote yesterday in reaffirming a decision he originally reached in March. Long denied a request from Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank to reinstate two Springfield foreclosures he invalidated in March because of flawed paperwork.

Will the Groundhog See a Shadow Housing Inventory?
October 14, 2009, Wall Street Journal

So where’s that long-awaited deluge of bank-owned homes that is supposed to flood the U.S. housing market? This “shadow” inventory has been a hot topic in recent months (as housing analysts struggle to guess how much further house prices may fall. But there’s no sign yet that the shadow inventory will swamp the market soon in California, says ForeclosureRadar.com in its monthly report on that state. The research firm estimates that banks and mortgage loan investors owned 90,365 foreclosed homes in the Golden State at the end of September, down from 155,269 a year earlier.

Fat U.S. Bank Profits Mask Housing Woes
October 14, 2009, The Globe and Mail

PMorgan Chase & Co.'s fat investment banking profit masks a dark underside of the U.S. recovery – the housing market  is still a mess and homeowners are defaulting at an alarming rate. Heralding what's in store for other major banks, JPMorgan reported almost $3.6-billion (U.S.) in profit in the third quarter – a stunning 580-per-cent surge from the same quarter last year – cementing the perception that banks are emerging strong and healthy from the recession.