Foreclosure community blog resource powered by RealtyTrac : Foreclosure Auctions

Finding a List of Upcoming Courthouse Foreclosure Auctions

darenb — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:47:00 GMT

A reader of our blog sent an e-mail earlier this week asking the following question about using RealtyTrac: "Do you have a complete listing of what is on the court's calander for foreclosure sale? I tried your free trial and did not find it very...(read more)

Bernanke Outlines Steps to Avoid Future Crises

Octavion — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:53:00 GMT

Bernanke Outlines Steps to Avoid Future Crises Wall Street Journal U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday outlined steps he thinks would help avert future financial crises, saying the time for such a longer-term discussion has come even...(read more)

The Case for Walking Away, Short Sales v. Foreclosure

Octavion — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:31:00 GMT

Housing Crisis Upside: Bargains for Everyone
ABC News
January 12, 2009

Real estate watchers have been saying it for months now: It's a buyer's market and it's only getting better. "It really is almost a national situation where we can find you at least one good deal almost everywhere," said Rick Sharga, the vice president of marketing for the foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac.

FDIC Pushes Banks for Reports on Use of Government Aid
Wall Street Journal
January 12, 2009

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Monday pushed the more than 5,000 banks it regulates to provide information on how they are using billions of dollars in government aid to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The Case for Walking Away
Newsweek
January 12, 2009

In January, we're supposed to sit down and organize our personal finances. This year I'll risk my good-girl reputation with a subversive idea: go bankrupt in 2009. If you're reaching the end of your rope, don't try to hold on. Save what you can.

Short Sale v. Foreclosure
Wall Street Journal
January 12, 2009

Is it better to negotiate with a short seller or look for houses already owned by the bank? But bear in mind that in the case of both short sales and bank-owned homes you are negotiating with lenders rather than sellers. In a short sale, the seller might be desperate to accept any offer to avoid foreclosure, but that doesn't matter if the primary and junior lien holders don't agree to it. With bank-owned properties, you will be dealing with the "real-estate owned" or REO department of the lender who took ownership of the house at the auction. In both cases, you should be prepared to be patient, since lenders are overwhelmed with distress sales these days and may take weeks to respond to your offer.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Octavion — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:27:00 GMT

When the British rock band The Clash penned their only number-one single “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” in 1981 for their album Combat Rock, they never imaged the song would have serious implications for the 2009 U.S. housing market.

Today, many struggling homeowners, drowning under the strain of growing debt, are pondering the same question: Should I stay or should I go?

The lyrics reflect on the struggle of a rocky relationship and whether to stick it out or end it. Troubled homeowners are faced with this same dilemma, wondering whether:

Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
And if I stay it will be double

For those who are uncertain, California attorney Peter Fredman has a solution: the “Walk Away” calculator, which can help cash-strapped homeowners calculate the cost of staying versus the cost of going (walking away). Fredman’s calculator asks a series of financial questions, like the value of the home, the balance of the mortgage and three other questions. The calculator doesn’t factor in taxes and other expenses, but it does give homeowners an idea of how deep they are in debt and whether foreclosure is their most sensible option.

While some may see his calculator as irresponsible, others might consider the Walk Away calculator as a way to help struggling homeowners wrestling about whether they should stay or go.

Clearly making a decision on the direction of the real estate market right now is tricky. But whatever homeowners decide, The Clash would certainly encourage them to:

Come on and let me know
Should I cool it or should I blow?

A Recovering Market without Govt Intervention

darenb — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:15:00 GMT

Free-market purists have to love the lead in The Washington Post story Friday about the real estate market in Prince William County, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C.

...(read more)

Foreclosure Flood Cresting?

darenb — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Could a flood of foreclosures that began to swell last year be close to cresting? That could be a first-blush interpretation of the numbers in the RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released today. The chart below shows how the annual rate of increase in all three foreclosure actions tracked in the report -- defaults, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- slowed in August.

The rates of annual increase in defaults and scheduled auctions have been steadily slowing down each month this year, but this was the first month in which the rate of increase in bank repossessions (REO) has slowed since the beginning of the year. That seems to indicate (and please forgive this somewhat rambling analogy) that the torrent of defaults that began in earnest about 18 months ago may be working their way down the foreclosure river and spilling into the ocean of bank-owned inventory -- while the number of new defaults being added upriver is moderating. But alas, that would be labeled by many as a naively optimistic interpretation, given the possibility of another downpour of defaults looming from as much as $500 billion in outstanding option ARMs, many of which are expected to recast to higher payments in the next three years.

In addition, one must be careful about reading too much into a decreasing rate of increase. It's a bit like a politician arguing that a new budget will decrease spending when it's actually just slowing the rate of increase in spending. After all, the RealtyTrac report does show that foreclosure activity continues to increase across the board -- defaults, auctions and bank repossessions. And both the total number of properties with foreclosure filings (more than 300,000) and the foreclosure rate (one in every 416 U.S. properties received a foreclosure filing during the month) were the highest since RealtyTrac began issuing the report in January 2005.

View state-by-state data

FDIC Selling Off Detroit Inventory

joelc — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:45:00 GMT

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is having no trouble keeping busy these days. In fact the agency’s head just announced this week that it has adjusted its estimate of how many of the nation’s banks are seriously in trouble of going out of business this year upward from 90 in Q1 2008 to 117 now.

...(read more)

July Foreclosure Report

darenb — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

U.S. foreclosure activity in July increased 8 percent from the previous month and 55 percent from July 2007, according to the RealtyTrac Foreclosure Market Report released today.

View state-by-state details.

Bank Repossessions (REOs) accounted for 28 percent of all activity during the month, while defaults accounted for 41 percent and auction notices accounted for 31 percent. That is in contrast to REOs accounting for just 16 percent of all activity in July 2007, while defaults in July 2007 were still at 41 percent and auction notices were at 43 percent. This shift in percentages shows that a higher proportion of properties that enter the forecosure process are ending up repossessed by lenders.

‘Extreme’ Dream Gone Bust

joelc — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:30:00 GMT

Three years ago Patricia and Milton Harper received a gift courtesy of reality television. ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition came to the rescue, demolishing the Harper’s old run down home with a faulty septic tank and replacing it with a 5,300 square-foot, two-story dream home in Lake City, Georgia.

...(read more)

Is Eight Enough?

darenb — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The number of properties with some sort of foreclosure action against them (default notice, auction notice, bank repossession) has consistently risen for the past eight quarters (see chart). While there have been monthly fluctuations up and down during this time period, the quarterly numbers consistently have been up quarter over quarter, and the most recent quarter was no exception, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released by RealtyTrac today.

And while this upward trend in foreclosure activity is driven largely by a few populous states with volatile housing markets, there's no doubt the pain is spilling over into many other areas across the country.

“Forty-eight of 50 states and 95 out of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity in the second quarter," said RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio in the press release announcing the Q2 report.

State governments that have gotten past the denial stage and actively addressed the foreclosure issue seem to be reaping the benefits of such foresight. One example is Colorado, whose foreclosure rate ranked No. 1 among the states in 2006, according to RealtyTrac. Some state officials initially took issue with the numbers, which engendered an important debate on how to accurately interpret and measure foreclosure data. But ultimately state officials took action by first investigating the foreclosure data themselves and then by working to curb foreclosures. The Colorado Division of Housing set up a foreclosure hotline to help people facing foreclosure. The state government enacted new laws addressing the issue, one of which gave homeowners more time on the front end of the foreclosure process to try to work out a way to stop or avoid the foreclosure.

Colorado's efforts appear to have had an impact. The state's foreclosure rate was down to No. 5 in the second quarter thanks in part to a 15 percent decrease in activity from the previous quarter. Activity was still up on a year-over-year basis, but at a much slower pace than the increase nationwide.

Late to the party as usual, the federal government is now trying to address the foreclosure issue as part of the mammoth housing bill making its way through Congress this week. President Bush has said he will sign the bill, which would allow many homeowners facing foreclosure to refinance into lower-cost, government-backed loans. The bill also earmarks $4 billion in grants for local communities to buy up foreclosed properties that may be negatively affecting the communities. Whether this bill will actually slow or stop the trend of rising foreclosures is up for debate. We'll certainly be watching to see if the third quarter foreclosure numbers translate into a ninth straight quarterly increase.

View Q2 state data.

View Q2 MSA data.