By Dennis Norman, on May 29th, 2012  UPDATE – August 2, 2012 – The deadline for requesting a review of your mortgage foreclosure under the federal banking agencies’ Independent Foreclosure Review has been extended until December 31, 2012
If you feel you were a victim of an improper foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010 by one of the companies below, you may apply for an independent foreclosure review and receive compensation if the independent review finds evidence of direct financial injury to you due to servicer error. Time is running out however as the deadline to apply is July 31, 2012. To make it easier to understand the process, the fed’s have produced a video on how to apply which I have included below. Continue reading “How to apply for independent foreclosure review“
By Dennis Norman, on May 22nd, 2012 
The mortgage delinquency rate (the percentage of home loans 30 or more days past due) increased in April 0.4 percent from the month before according to the latest “First Watch Report” from Lenders Processing Services (LPS). While this is a modest increase, it temporarily reverses the trend we have seen for the past 9 months of declining mortgage delinquency rates. The mortgage delinquency rate in April, at 7.12 percent of all loans, is down 10.6 percent from a year ago however. The foreclosure rate for April was 4.14 percent, the same as the month before as well as the year before so, at least the foreclosure rate is remaining flat and not increasing. Continue reading “Mortgage delinquencies increase in April; first increase in nine months“
By Dennis Norman, on February 9th, 2012  1.4 Million Homes in the Foreclosure Inventory at the End of 2011
According to a report just released by CoreLogic, there were 830,000 foreclosures completed during the year in 2011, a 24 percent decrease from 2010 when there were 1.1 million. For the month of December, there were 55,000 foreclosures, down 3.5 percent from November when there were 57,000 and down 17.9 percent from December 2010 when there were 67,000 foreclosures completed. Continue reading “Foreclosures in 2011 down 24 percent from 2010“
By News Desk, on January 24th, 2012 Based on what we’ve heard, the settlement between major banks and states’ Attorneys General (AGs), the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Justice would represent an important step forward in addressing foreclosure abuses. The settlement would include key reforms to clean up unfair mortgage servicing practices. It would also provide an important template for ways banks can use principal reduction to reduce unnecessary foreclosures and put the country back on a path to economic recovery. Continue reading “AG Settlement: Not Perfect, But Significant Reform of Mortgage Servicing“
By Dennis Norman, on September 30th, 2011  Mark Fleming, Ph.D., Chief Economist for CoreLogic, in a presentation yesterday, said the housing market is not out of the woods yet as the potential of a double-dip in our economy increases and as 30 to 40 percent of economists feel there is a chance of another recession. The economy’s “stall speed” was another issue Fleming said was a concern, describing it as similar to the stall speed of an airplane; that speed at which is still fast enough for the plane to be flying, but just on the edge of stalling and no longer able to maintain flight. Fleming said, for the economy, a 1 percent growth rate is historically the “stall” point and that is right about where we are presently. Continue reading “Housing market not out of the woods yet“
By Dennis Norman, on September 27th, 2011
A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows that the current residential “shadow” inventory as of July 2011 declined slightly from 1.7 million units in April to 1.6 million units, and was down from 1.9 million units a year ago. This current shadow inventory represents a 5 month supply. CoreLogic includes in it’s shadow inventory numbers properties that are either 90+ days delinquent on mortgages, in some stage of foreclosure, or an REO but not presently for sale in an MLS. Continue reading “Shadow Inventory Continues to Decline; Good news for the housing market“
By Dennis Norman, on September 23rd, 2011 
Signs point to trouble ahead for the housing market as recent growth in foreclosure filings suggest REO Inventories may balloon in coming months according to the Radar Logic July 2011 Monthly Housing Market Report. On the heels of a couple of upbeat articles I’ve been able to write about the market, I get hit with the glumness of this one….ugh. However, as I have said before, I have a lot of respect for this company and have found their market forecasts to be reasonably accurate, unfortunately. Continue reading “Increased foreclosure activity and potential REO inventory growth point to trouble for real estate market“
By Dennis Norman, on September 21st, 2011
I keep saying that, until the foreclosure rate gets back down closer to a “normal” rate and the REO inventory is absorbed to the point where they are no longer putting such immense downward pressure on home prices, we are not going to see any sort of sustainable recovery in the housing market. It all starts with mortgage delinquencies, and as those go so go foreclosures and REO inventory ultimately. Having said that, we have some good news: A “first-look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows mortgage delinquencies decreased 2.5 percent in August from the month before and decreased 11.8 percent from the year before. According to the report, the U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate increased 0.1 percent from the month before and was up 8.2 percent from the year before. Continue reading “Mortgage delinquencies decline in August; down almost 12 percent from year ago“
By Dennis Norman, on September 16th, 2011  National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) President, Ron Phipps, wrote a letter to Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury Department and Edward DeMarco, Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency with suggestions on how to improve the Real Estate Owned (REO) asset disposition programs for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA. NAR, like many other housing related associations and organizations, submitted letters in response to the government’s request for information on how to deal with the REO problem. Continue reading “REALTORS offer suggestions to the Fed on how to deal with the REO problem“
By Dennis Norman, on September 15th, 2011  St. Louis foreclosure activity increased in August by 29.09 percent from July with 1 of every 682 St. Louis homeowners having a foreclosure filing according to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure market report that was just released. As the chart below depicts, of the eight largest counties in the St. Louis metro area all but Madison County Illinois saw an increase in foreclosure activity in August with Macoupin County Illinois leading the way with a 113 percent increase.
To find foreclosures in your area click here. Continue reading “St. Louis foreclosures increase in August but are down sharply from a year ago“
By Dennis Norman, on September 13th, 2011
A report released today by CoreLogic shows that 17.30 percent (99,792) of all St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position in the second quarter of 2011, up slightly from 17.10 percent the prior quarter. Negative equity is also referred to as being “underwater” or “upside down” and refers to homeowners that owe more on their mortgages than the current value of their home. Continue reading “St. Louis homeowners with negative equity increases slightly in 2nd quarter“
By Dennis Norman, on September 8th, 2011
The St Louis foreclosure rates was 1.62 percent for June 2011, down from 1.71 percent the month before and up from June 2010 when the rate was 1.44 percent, according to a newly released data from CoreLogic. As usual, the St Louis foreclosure rate is significantly lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 3.46 percent for June 2011. Continue reading “Foreclosure rate in St Louis decreases in June from month before but still up from a year ago“
By Dennis Norman, on August 25th, 2011 This morning, RealtyTrac released it’s Foreclosure Sales Report for the St. Louis metro area for the 2nd quarter of 2011 which showed there were 2,138 REO’s (banked owned) and Pre-Foreclosure (short sales and other sales of property with loans in default) during the quarter which is a 4.86 percent increase from the prior quarter and a decrease of 6.64 percent from a year ago. Continue reading “St Louis Foreclosure Sales Increase in 2nd Quarter; account for 1 of every 4 home sales“
By Dennis Norman, on August 22nd, 2011 HomeSteps, the home-sale division of Freddie Mac, announced “Condo Cash”, a special limited-time offer to pay up to $1,500 in future condo fees for eligible buyers purchasing a condominium being sold through the Freddie Mac HomeSteps program. Continue reading “Freddie Mac offering to pay future condo fees through HomeSteps special“
By Dennis Norman, on August 11th, 2011 Finally some good news for the St. Louis Real Estate Market! This morning RealtyTrac released their foreclosure activity report for the St. Louis metro area for July 2011 showing that foreclosure activity in the St. Louis metro area in July was down 8.77 percent from the month before and down a whopping 35.46 percent from a year ago! Continue reading “St Louis Foreclosures Drop in July; Down Over 35 Percent From Year Ago“
By Dennis Norman, on August 1st, 2011
RealtyTrac released their Midyear 2011 Metro foreclosure report showing that foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis in 178 out of the nation’s largest 211 metropolitan areas which is some much needed good news! Continue reading “84 Percent of U.S. Metros Post Lower Foreclosure Activity in First Half of 2011“
By Dennis Norman, on July 22nd, 2011
Radarlogic, real estate data and analytics company that frequently disagrees with the National Association of REALTORS® view of the housing market, released their RPX Monthly Housing Market Report for May 2011 yesterday and in it had a scorecard showing how their rather bleak predictions they made at the end of 2010 for the 2011 housing market were holding up. Unfortunately, as you will see below, it seems many of their predictions have been accurate and the housing market is performing as poorly as they expected in many areas. Continue reading “2011 Real Estate Market Performing about as Poorly as Predicted Thus Far“
By Dennis Norman, on July 14th, 2011
RealtyTrac released their Midyear 2011 foreclosure report this morning showing a total of 1,170,402 U.S. properties received foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled foreclosures and bank REO’s) in the first six months of 2011, a 25 percent decrease from the prior six months and a 29 percent decrease from the first half of 2010. Continue reading “Foreclosure rate drops in first half of 2011; shadow inventory builds“
By Bob Sargent, on July 12th, 2011  Would you like to buy one of those foreclosure or REO bargains, but don’t have the cash to have the necessary work done? There’s a new rehab loan program in St. Louis that will help homeowners do just this! This program allows buyers to buy Bank Owned or Foreclosed Property (let’s call them “distressed homes”) and also borrow funds for the rehabilitation of these properties. Continue reading “Local Rehab Loan Program Allows Buyers To Take Advantage of Distressed Sale Bargains“
By Dennis Norman, on July 1st, 2011 A report issued yesterday by Equifax reveals just how severe the impact of shadow inventory (homes that have been, or should be, foreclosed on but have not been put back on the market for sale yet) and REO’s (properties owned by lenders after acquiring through foreclosure) are on a housing market recovery. Continue reading “REO’s and Shadow Inventory are Roadblock to Recovery of Housing Market“
By Dennis Norman, on June 30th, 2011
A report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows that while mortgage delinquencies continue to decline, lenders are taking longer to foreclose resulting in a drop in foreclosure sales. In fact, there are still significantly fewer foreclosure sales than there were before foreclosure moratoriums were put into place, and foreclosure sales are declining. Continue reading “Report shows declining foreclosure rate; lenders showing delay in foreclosing“
By Dennis Norman, on June 28th, 2011 Dennis Norman The St. Louis foreclosure rate in April was 1.66 percent, down slightly from 1.71 percent the prior month, but up almost 17 percent from a year ago, according to a report published by CoreLogic. The report shows that the St. Louis Mortgage Delinquency rate (Serious delinquency, 90+ days delinquent) decreased to 4.72 percent in April, down from 4.83 percent the month before and down 13.4 percent from a year ago.
By Dennis Norman, on June 22nd, 2011
A “first-look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows mortgage delinquencies decreased 0.1 percent in May from the month before and down over 18 percent from the year before. Other good news in the report is the U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate declined 0.7 percent from the month before. Continue reading “Mortgage Delinquencies and Foreclosure Inventory Decrease In May“
By Dennis Norman, on June 22nd, 2011
A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows that the current residential “shadow” inventory as of April 2011 declined to 1.7 million units, down from 1.9 million units a year ago. This current shadow inventory represents a 5 month supply, same as the supply a year ago. Continue reading “Report shows shadow inventory continues to decline“
By Dennis Norman, on June 16th, 2011
RealtyTrac released their foreclosure report this morning for May 2011 which shows foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled foreclosures and bank REO’s) were reported on 214,927 homes in May which is a 2 percent decrease from the month before and a 33 percent decrease from May 2010. Continue reading “Foreclosure activity in May down 33 percent from a year ago; buyer interest cools“
By Dennis Norman, on June 7th, 2011
A report released today by CoreLogic shows that 17.10 percent (97,772) of all St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position in the first quarter of 2011, up slightly from 17.0 percent the prior quarter. Negative equity is also referred to as being “underwater” or “upside down” and refers to homeowners that owe more on their mortgages than the current value of their home. Continue reading “St Louis Homeowners with Negative Equity Increases Slightly in First Quarter of 2011“
By Dennis Norman, on June 6th, 2011 Dennis Norman The St. Louis foreclosure rate in March was 1.73 percent, down slightly from 1.78 percent the prior month, but up over 21 percent from a year ago, according to a report published by CoreLogic. The report shows that the St. Louis Mortgage Delinquency rate (Serious delinquency, 90+ days delinquent) decreased to 4.83 percent in March, down from 5.1 percent the month before and down 14 percent from a year ago. This is the first month the St Louis Mortgage Delinquency rate was below 5 percent since August 2009.
By Dennis Norman, on May 26th, 2011
RealtyTrac released their foreclosure report this morning for the first quarter of 2011 showing that foreclosure homes (sales of bank-owned homes and those in some stage of foreclosure) accounted for 28 percent of all U.S. residential sales during the quarter. This is up slightly from 27 percent the prior quarter and the highest percentage since the first quarter of 2010, when 29 percent of all sales were foreclosure sales. Continue reading “Foreclosures account for 28 percent of all home sales in first quarter 2011; Selling at discount of 27 percent“
By Dennis Norman, on May 25th, 2011
A “first-look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows mortgage delinquencies increased 2.4 percent in April, changing the downward trend we have seen in the prior few months. The good news in this report is that the U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate declined 1.6 percent from the month before. Continue reading “Mortgage Delinquencies Increase in April“
By Dennis Norman, on May 23rd, 2011 According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Trulia and RealtyTrac, 45 percent of American adults say the government is not doing enough to prevent foreclosures. Only 17 percent think the government is doing too much and 16 percent say just the right amount is being done. Continue reading “45 Percent of Americans say government not doing enough to stop foreclosures; Other side of coin, over half of Americans want to buy a foreclosed home“
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