Foreclosure

Fewer Bay State properties were foreclosed on in February compared to the prior month and a year earlier, according to a new report released Tuesday by Boston-based The Warren Group. Still, despite this flicker of positive news for the Massachusetts housing market, the number of foreclosures initiated by lenders climbed again for the fourth consecutive month.

Cities across the country say they are seeing a disturbing new practice when it comes to foreclosures – more and more, banks are opting not to take possession of foreclosed properties because the costs of maintenance, repairs, and legal fees outweigh the still-declining value of the property.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) announced last week that a recent survey it conducted signals hope on the horizon for struggling homeowners facing foreclosure. The activist group said it surveyed all major mortgage servicing companies in the nation, and has found that at least 76 percent of outstanding mortgage loans are serviced by companies who have committed to implementing the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable loan modification program.

Jacksonville, Florida-based Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), a provider of technology and services to the mortgage industry, has released the results of a recent study that reveals the impact of foreclosure, or REO, sales on home prices.

Sheriff Warren Evans of Wayne County, Michigan announced this week that he is resuming foreclosure sales. Evans halted all foreclosure sales in his jurisdiction on February 2nd, in anticipation of a foreclosure relief plan from the federal government.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) submitted its fourth quarter report to Congress this week detailing actions the GSEs have taken to prevent unnecessary foreclosures. The report shows a 76 percent increase in loan modifications by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the third to fourth quarters of 2008.

ForeclosureRadar, which tracks every California foreclosure and provides daily auction updates, issued its monthly California Foreclosure Report for February 2009 on Thursday. The company said that Notices of Default have increased 21.

Why Putting the Brakes on Foreclosures Won’t Stop the Crash California did it. Massachusetts and Maryland did it, too. So did Fannie and Freddie. Florida and Ohio are talking about doing it. The sheriff of Wayne County, Michigan, didn’t wait around for a vote: He did it himself.

Foreclosure activity in February increased nearly six percent from the month before, according to RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released on Thursday. The gain comes despite widespread foreclosure moratoria instituted by the GSEs and some of the nation’s largest lenders during the first part of the year.

As inventories of foreclosed homes swell, home builders across the country, particularly in the Sun Belt states hit hardest by the housing crisis, are pitted against REO properties for sales. Steve Ruffner, president of the Southern California division of new home builder KB Home, recently told the Wall Street Journal:http://online.