More Foreclosures to Come

What's Behind the Foreclosure Decrease
November 12, 2009, U.S. News & World Report

Even as the housing market continues to stagger, foreclosure filings in October declined for the third month in a row. Foreclosure filings were reported on 332,292 properties last month, or 3 percent fewer than September's tally, real estate firm RealtyTrac said today. Even though filings remained 19 percent higher than a year earlier, "Three consecutive monthly declines is unprecedented for our report," said RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio in a statement. But with unemployment busting through the 10 percent threshold and a slew of state and federal initiatives against foreclosures in place, foreclosure trends aren't as optimistic as they may appear in this report. Read about the five things you need to know:

Housing Agency Reserves Fall Far Below Minimum
November 13, 2009, Wall Street Journal

The Federal Housing Administration's capital reserves have fallen to razor-thin levels, increasing the likelihood the agency will eventually require a taxpayer bailout, and adding fuel to the debate about how much support the U.S. should provide to the mortgage market. The FHA has said for months that its reserves for unexpected loan losses would fall short of the required 2% level by this fall. But an audit of the FHA released Thursday showed that reserves have been depleted much faster than the agency and analysts had expected. The FHA's capital-reserve fund fell to $3.6 billion as of Sept. 30, down 72% from a year earlier, leaving reserves at just 0.53% of the $685 billion in total loans insured by the FHA.

More Foreclosures to Come
November 11, 2009, New York Times (Editorial)

After a few months of some better than expected housing news, home prices are likely to fall again, driven lower by a renewed surge in foreclosures. By conservative estimates, another 2.4 million homes will be lost in 2010, while prices will fall another 10 percent or so. This should be a wake-up call for the Obama administration. Foreclosures are expected to surge, in part, because lenders have been delaying the process during the long rollout of the administration’s antiforeclosure plan. But according to Moody’s Economy.com, most troubled borrowers ultimately will not qualify for help, and a backlog of bad loans will soon enter foreclosure.