Foreclosures - St Louis Real Estate News

St. Louis Foreclosures and Mortgage Delinquencies Hit Record Levels in March

By Dennis Norman, on May 6th, 2010

Dennis Norman

A report released by CoreLogic showed the St. Louis metro area to have a foreclosure rate in March of 1.49 percent up slightly from February’s rate of 1.44 percent and an increase of 39.3 percent from the year prior when the rate was 1.07 percent.

The national foreclosure rate for March remains over twice the rate of St. Louis at 3.23 percent and was an increase of 73.9 percent from a year ago when the national foreclosure rate was 2.32 percent.

No End In Site

Unfortunately, I don’t think we are going to see much, if Continue Reading →

Foreclosures Still On The Rise – Some Improvement in Hardest Hit Areas Though

By Dennis Norman, on April 29th, 2010

RealtyTrac® released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for the first quarter of 2010, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 932,234 U.S. properties during the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 16 percent from the first quarter of 2009 (which, I should remind you, was up 24 percent from the first quarter of 2008).

According to the report, the 20 metro areas with the highest rates of foreclosures were still contained to four states:

California – 10 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates Florida – 7 of the top Continue Reading →

Case-Shiller Report Has Some Good News On Housing Market; Not Out of The Woods Yet Though

By Dennis Norman, on April 27th, 2010

Dennis Norman

This morning the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for February was released showing that, for the first time since December, 2006, the annual rates of change for their two composite home-price indices were positive. The 10-City Composite is up 1.4 percent from a year before and the 20-City Composite is up 0.6 percent from the same time last year. Unfortunately, 11 of the 20 cities included in the 20-City Composite had declines from the prior year, meaning that this positive bit of news is not “market-wide” but is the result of some metros with stronger markets.

Continue Reading →

Record Foreclosure Rate Could Hurt Demand For Homes and Slow Recovery

By Dennis Norman, on April 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

In a report just issued by Radarlogic there is some good news for the housing industry as in the report Michael Feder, President and CEO of Radar Logic, states “the evidence continues to support the view that housing has stabilized and is in the early stages of recovery.” However, the report also reminds us that RealtyTrac reported that foreclosure filings set a record in March, with filings reported on 367,056 properties, the “highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in January 2005. The report indicates an increasing concern about the threat that foreclosures pose Continue Reading →

Housing Recovery Dependant on Inventory Reduction

By Dennis Norman, on April 19th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Housing is stabilizing but excess inventory and shadow supply are hindering recovery according to the April 2010 Economic Outlook released today by Fannie Mae’s Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group.

The report projects that new home sales (which are at record lows) will be slow to recover until inventory of existing homes and the foreclosure overhang are worked off. The comments about existing home sales were more optimistic saying key indicators for existing home sales, including pending home sales and purchase applications, are showing good signs of a pickup.

Jobs, a driving force for housing, are Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News – Who are the homebuyers?

By Robert Fishel, on April 14th, 2010

First-time home buyers comprised an unprecedented 47 percent of the market last year according to a recently published report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR’s report, 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, points to the federal tax credit and the historic affordability of housing as the most likely reasons first-time buyers scored so high in sales. According to NAR, housing economists predict that “2010 will be an even bigger year for first-timers.” Who are these people, and what do they want? Most are married – Forty-nine percent are a married couple. Single females comprise a quarter Continue Reading →

Delinquent Home Mortgages 21.3 Percent Higher Than Last Year; Foreclosure Rates at Record High

By Dennis Norman, on April 12th, 2010

Dennis Norman

A report published by Lender Processing Services (LPS) analyzing homeowner’s performance on their mortgages as of February 2010 has some data that is encouraging but that data is overshadowed by data that shows the problems int he U.S. housing market are far from over.

Let’s start with the good news…

Delinquencies on home mortgages declined in February by 1.45 percent from January and the percentage of loans that were 90 days late or more in February were at the lowest rate in 17 months. The decline in home loans that were 90+ days delinquent from December Continue Reading →

Fed Reserve: Housing Sales and Starts Have Flattened Out at Depressed Levels; Foreclosures Likely To Remain High

By Dennis Norman, on April 6th, 2010

Dennis Norman

At the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on March 16th it was suggested that “economic activity expanded at a moderate pace in early 2010″. Unfortunately, when it came to the housing market, the news was not as good and it was noted that “housing activity remained flat and the nonresidential construction section weakened further.” The staff went on to say that activity in the housing sector appears to “have flattened out in recent months” and that “sales of both new and existing homes have turned down, while starts of single-family homes were about unchanged despite the substantial Continue Reading →

Obama Administration HAMP Loan Modification Program Falling Short

By Dennis Norman, on April 1st, 2010

Dennis Norman

The Treasury Department Plans to Spend $50 Billion on HAMP…Is it Going to “help keep “3 to 4 million Americans in their homes” as Promised Though?

Last week Herbert M. Allison, Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as to “Is the Home Affordable Modification Program Preserving Homeownership?”.

Early in his testimony Allison states that, at the time the HAMP program was announced, President Obama said the program would “enable as many as 3 to 4 million homeowners to modify Continue Reading →

Help for homeowners facing foreclosure or are underwater

By Dennis Norman, on March 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Back in early December I did a post about a new program that was announced in November, the Home Affordable Foreclosures Alternative (HAFA) Program which is scheduled to go into effect April 5, 2010. There was recently supplemental documentation published as well as FAQ’s about the program and I have to admit, it seems to me the government is getting it right with this program.

THE HAFA PROGRAM:

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program provides financial incentives to loan servicers as well as borrowers who do a short-sale or a deed-in-lieu to avoid foreclosure on Continue Reading →

February Existing Home Sales Vary By Region and Price

By Dennis Norman, on March 24th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to the latest report from the National Association of REALTORS(R), existing home sales in the US in February decreased 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 5.02 million units in February from a revised level of 5.50 million units in January, however this does represent an increase of 7.0 percent from a year ago when the rate was 4.69 million units (seasonally adjusted).

February’s Numbers Show Real Estate is “Local”

Reinforcing the fact that “all real estate is local” the February Existing Home Sales report paints quite a different picture of the housing market depending Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate – Missouri Foreclosures Increase 2.34 Percent

By Dennis Norman, on March 13th, 2010

Missouri’s foreclosure rate increased in February by 2.34 percent from January but is down 3.68 percent from February 2009.

RealtyTrac® released its February 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 308,524 U.S. properties during the month of February, a decrease of 2 percent from the previous month but still 6 percent above the level reported in February 2009. This translates into one in every 418 U.S. housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in February.

Missouri ranked 30th in the U.S. in terms of foreclosure rate in Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – St Louis Foreclosure Rates Still on the Rise

By Dennis Norman, on March 5th, 2010

Dennis Norman

St. Louis Mortgage Delinquencies and St. Louis Foreclosure Rate hit Record Highs

A report released by First American CoreLogic showed the St. Louis metro area to have a foreclosure rate in January of 1.42 percent up slightly from December’s rate of 1.36 percent and an increase of 46.39 percent from the year prior when the rate was 0.97 percent.

The national foreclosure rate for January remains over twice the rate of St. Louis at 3.19 percent and was an increase of 60.3 percent from a year ago when the national Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Mortgage Rates Hold Steady In the Country’s 8th most affordable city

By Robert Fishel, on March 3rd, 2010

Low foreclosures, stable home prices and affordability make eighth-ranked St. Louis a good bet for home buyers, according to a report released by Forbes.com last Friday. Forbes gathered data from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo’s Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The index measures median home prices against median incomes. Additional data overlays included Moody’s one-year forecast for the Case-Shiller Home Price Index of home prices and RealtyTrac’s 2009 foreclosure report. Rankings from all of these data sources were considered in determining the overall score. The top ten best housing metro areas: Pittsburgh, PA Louisville – Jefferson Continue Reading →

Thinking of “walking away” from your mortgage?

By Dennis Norman, on March 3rd, 2010

Dennis Norman

You may want to consider possible legal issues before deciding to “walk away”

Homeowners who are considering “walking away” from their home to avoid making their mortgage payment need to know that their mortgage company may try to file a lawsuit to recover the amount owed on the home.

In addition, homeowners who sell their home for less than the amount they owe – a process called a “short sale” — may be sued for the unpaid balance, even after the sale of the home. Finally, homeowners with unpaid home equity loans or second mortgages may also Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Vacant Property Bill and It’s Affect on Property Rights

By Dennis Norman, on February 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

What do sex offenders and owners of vacant property have in common?

UPDATE: March 8, 2010 – I found out today the bill that was actually perfected last Friday was a floor substitute…Unfortunately the changes made to the bill were minor- they changed the public data base so that you have to enter a property address in order to look up the owners personal information (including phone number and email address) and they changed the wording to no longer make real estate agents and property managers responsible for property they don’t own. So basically, just a little Continue Reading →

Almost one-in-four borrowers underwater on home mortgage

By Dennis Norman, on February 23rd, 2010

Over Fifteen Percent of Missouri Borrowers are Underwater-Another 5.6 Percent Are Almost Underwater

Dennis Norman

According to a report released today by First American CoreLogic more than 11.3 million U.S. mortgages, or 24 percent of all mortgaged properties, are in a negative equity position meaning the borrowers owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth as of December 31, 2009.

There were approximately 600,000 more borrowers underwater on December 31, 2009 than just three months earlier. In addition, there were an additional 2.3 million mortgages approaching negative equity at the end of last year .

Together, Continue Reading →

FDIC’s Sale of IndyMac to One West Bank – Sweetheart deal or not?

By Dennis Norman, on February 15th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Last week a friend emailed me a link to a video titled “The Indymac Slap in Our Face” that was created by Think Big Work Small. I watched the video which gave a recap of the failure of Indymac bank back resulting in it’s seizure by the FDIC in July, 2008, and the ultimate sale by the FDIC of Indymac Bank to One West Bank in March, 2009.

According to the video, One West Bank received a cushy, “sweetheart deal” and implied it was related to the fact that the owners of One West Bank include Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – 2009 Ends with St Louis Foreclosure Rate at Record Levels

By Dennis Norman, on February 12th, 2010

Dennis Norman

St. Louis ended 2009 With The Highest Foreclosure Rate and Mortgage Delinquency Rates On Record For the St. Louis Area

According to date from First American CoreLogic, St Louis finished 2009 with 1.43 percent of the homes in St. Louis with a mortgage in some stage of the foreclosure process and 5.73 percent of the mortgages in St. Louis seriously delinquent (90+ days past due).

The St. Louis area has seen increases in the foreclosure rate every month since August, 2008 and the the December 2009 rate is the highest rate recorded since First American Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Foreclosure Rates in St Louis Increase Again

By Dennis Norman, on February 5th, 2010

Dennis Norman

In spite of what is being said in the press about the real estate market improving and the effectiveness of the government’s programs to help keep people in their homes, the rate of foreclosure just keeps increasing.

A report released today by First American CoreLogic showed the St. Louis metro area to have a foreclosure rate of 1.43 percent up slightly from November’s rate of 1.35 percent and an increase of 66.67 percent from the year prior when the rate was 0.87 percent.

The national foreclosure rate for December was again over double the rate Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Permanent Loan Modifications under HAMP triples in December

By Dennis Norman, on January 28th, 2010

Dennis Norman

This week the Treasury Department issed a report which included stats on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) which is part of the Obama administrations’ Making Home Affordable Program and “is a loan modification program designed to reduce delinquent and at-risk borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments”. The HAMP program got underway around March of this year and is set to expire December 31, 2012. According to the government website HAMP is intended to help keep “3 to 4 million Americans in their homes by preventing avoidable foreclosures.”

Permanent modifications triple in December from November:

According to the Continue Reading →

Survey Shows Obama Falls Short on Housing Market Promises

By Dennis Norman, on January 27th, 2010

Even in Tough Times, 77 Percent of Americans View Homeownership as a Part of Their Own Personal American Dream

A national survey released yesterday by Trulia shows that many Americans feel that President Barack Obama has not lived up to the hope he created during his campaign and his first 30 days in office. In Trulia’s latest American Dream survey conducted online on its behalf by Harris Interactive from January 19-21, 2009 President Barack Obama scored considerably lower marks on the topic of restoring the American dream of home ownership compared to a survey conducted February 20-24, 2009 after his Continue Reading →

St. Louis Home Sales in 2009 show signs of bottom

By Dennis Norman, on January 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

For the St. Louis area 2009 marked another year of “bad” records for the housing market; record numbers of foreclosures, mortgage delinquencies as well as sales numbers and prices lower than we have seen in several years. However, as I compiled St. Louis area home sales data for 2009 and compared it to the prior two years I realized this is some positive news. It appears we are perhaps seeing the bottom of the market and a flattening of the downward trends.

Unfortunately as our national debt balloons out of control, we continue to see double-digit Continue Reading →

St. Louis Foreclosures Increase over 68 percent from a year ago

By Dennis Norman, on January 14th, 2010

Dennis Norman

I would say it’s say to say that the Obama administrations efforts to curtail the foreclosure rate is not working as the foreclosure rate in St. Louis increased again in November according to a report released today by First American CoreLogic.The report showed the St. Louis metro area to have a foreclosure rate of 1.35 percent in November, up just slightly from October’s rate of 1.31 percent and increase of 68.75 percent from a year ago when the rate was 0.80percent.

The national foreclosure rate for November was again over double the rate of St. Continue Reading →

Will you owe taxes on a short-sale or foreclosure?

By Dennis Norman, on January 11th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Depending on which estimate you believe, somewhere between one-third and one-half of the homeowners with a mortgage in the U.S. owe more on their homes than their homes are currently worth. This has lead to an unprecedented amount of short-sales and in many cases, a lender “forgiving” you of the short-fall (the amount of your loan your sale proceeds were not adequate to pay) which, in the past could have left you owing taxes on the “forgiven debt”.

For some of those underwater homeowners that are not fortunate enough to do a short sale they may Continue Reading →

Let’s play ‘spin the data’

By Dennis Norman, on January 6th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Or should I say “It’s all in the headline”?

So what am I talking about? The pending home sales data that was released by the National Association of REALTORS today, of course. Actually I could be referring to any data on the housing market whether new home sales, foreclosure rates, interest rates, existing home sales or inventories of homes for sale.

There only major housing report that was released today was the Pending Home Sales Index for November by NAR. Being a report based upon data you would think the numbers speak for Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosures Increase 61.7 percent in past year

By Dennis Norman, on December 21st, 2009

Dennis Norman

Foreclosure rates in St. Louis increased for the month of October over the same period last year according to a report released by First American CoreLogic. The report showed the St. Louis metro area to have a foreclosure rate of 1.31 percent in October, up just slightly from September’s rate of 1.25 percent, but up 61.7 percent from a year ago when the rate was 0.81 percent.

The national foreclosure rate for October was over double the rate of St. Louis at 3.02 percent and was an increase of 77.6 percent from a year ago Continue Reading →

What Should Be Done To Help Underwater Borrowers?

By Dennis Norman, on December 17th, 2009

Dennis Norman

Last week I did a post about the Obama Administrations’ Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and showed how it really has not been effective in helping keep families in their homes and avoid foreclosure as was the intention by the administration. When my kids tell me they don’t like the way I want them to do something I usually challenge them with “if you don’t like my way, tell me a better way to do it“. So with this in mind I went looking for an answer to this question.

In my search I ran accross a Continue Reading →

Five Indicted in Foreclosure Rescue and Mortgage Fraud Scheme

By News Desk, on December 12th, 2009

Department of Justice Press Release

Scam Involved Lawyers, Mortgage Brokers, and More Than $14.6 Million in Loans

PHILADELPHIA—A 15-count indictment was filed today against five defendants charged in a $14.6 million mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in at least 35 fraudulent mortgage loans, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Janice K. Fedarcyk, and Pennsylvania Secretary of Banking Steven Kaplan. Charged are Edward G. McCusker and John Alford Bariana, owners of Axxium Mortgage, Inc., McCusker’s wife, Jacqueline, and Jeffrey A. Bennett and Stephen G. Doherty, owners of the Doylestown law firm Bennett & Doherty, Continue Reading →

Is the Obama Administrations’ Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) working?

By Dennis Norman, on December 11th, 2009

Dennis Norman

So is the Loan Modification plan working?

To try to Continue Reading →