Tag Archives: RealtyTrac

Foreclosure timelines are getting longer, according to recent reports from Moody's Investors Service and RealtyTrac. In addition to this trend, Moody's highlighted the importance of net present value (NPV) models in the loss mitigation process for residential mortgage-backed securities. Foreclosure timelines increased for all servicers in the fourth quarter, Moody's reported. RealtyTrac also found the average time to foreclose went up in 39 states in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter.

Despite a monthly uptick in foreclosure starts, first quarter foreclosure activity fell to a six-year low, according to RealtyTrac's foreclosure market report for the first quarter and March. Data from RealtyTrac showed 442,117 properties received some type of foreclosure filing in Q1. The figure represents the lowest level since Q2 2007 and a quarterly and yearly decrease of 12 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, foreclosure starts, which numbered 73,113 in March, moved higher for the second straight month and posted a 2 percent increase from February.

With institutional investors playing a major role in the home-buying market as they snagged tens of thousands of homes in 2012, RealtyTrac set to work to determine which markets still offer the best opportunities for investors intending to purchase single-family homes to rent. Topping the list of top 20 markets were Memphis, Tennessee; Saginaw, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; Ocala, Florida; and Las Vegas, Nevada. In Memphis, Tennessee, the median sales price for a three-bedroom home is $72,605, and investors can expect a cash purchase capitalization rate of 10.38 percent.

Foreclosure inventory seems to be making a comeback after experiencing steady declines following the national mortgage settlement, RealtyTrac revealed in a report Thursday. In the first quarter of 2013, the number of properties that were in the foreclosure process or bank-owned rose 9 percent year-over-year to 1.5 million, according to data from the online foreclosure marketplace. The most recent figure represents a 12 percent increase from the five-year low seen in May 2012. The report also found 35 percent of the homes in the foreclosure process were abandoned by the homeowner.

A new face has joined RealtyTrac's executive team as SVP of the RealtyTrac Network. Industry veteran Lisa Mackey was selected for the role and is charged with leading overall expansion of the recently launched licensed network for top brokerage companies.

Foreclosure starts in February showed some pick-up in activity month-over-month, while REOs fell to their lowest level since September 2007, according to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure market report for February. RealtyTrac reported a 10 percent increase in foreclosure starts from January after three straight months of declines. Year-over-year, foreclosure starts were still down 25 percent. Bank repossessions, or REOs, hit a 65-month low in February, according to RealtyTrac, and were 11 percent lower from the previous month and down 29 percent from February 2012.

After assessing over 900 markets across the country, RealtyTrac put together a list of the top 15 markets for short sale and REO purchases for the year. Out of the 15 markets selected for short sales, nine were located in California. RealtyTrac also noted the average remaining deficiency after a short sale exceeded $100,000 in seven of the 15 markets, which suggests banks are willing to take a huge loss to avoid foreclosure. The markets on the REO list averaged discounts ranging from 33 to 57 percent and the time to sell ranged from 139 to 175 days compared to 188 to 358 days for short sales.

Foreclosure-related are on the decline but distressed sales continue to claim a disproportionately high portion of total home sales across the country, according to RealtyTrac's most recent foreclosure and short sales report. The firm also found increases in prices for distressed properties in 2012. Distressed property sales made up 43 percent of all home sales nationwide in 2012, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosure-related sales made up 21 percent of all sales, while non-foreclosure short sales made up 22 percent of sales.

DS News took some time to chat with Daren Blomquist, VP of RealtyTrac, to get a reading on the current state of the foreclosure market and what is expected to come. Although foreclosures served to strip homes of their value during the housing crisis, Blomquist says foreclosures will be seen as a welcome sign this year and act as a stimulus. While this may seem counterintuitive, Blomquist said, ""because of the severe lack of inventory available for sale, foreclosures could actually fill that inventory and provide more fuel to the fire that's been slowly building over the past year as more sales occur.""

RealtyTrac is now offering RealtyTrac Network (RTN)—a licensed network for leading independent and franchised brokerage companies. Through RTN, select brokerages will have an exclusive relationship with RealtyTrac that comes with access to local real estate data and trends, seller and buyer leads, and additional neighborhood data.