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Home asking prices are on the rise nationwide, according to the August 2014 Trulia Price Monitor released on Tuesday, but they are rising at a faster rate in judicial states where the foreclosure process takes longer. This is a reversal from the recent trend in which home asking prices have risen more quickly in non-judicial states because the "foreclosure wave" in certain areas came and went faster in those states as a result of not having to pass through courts. Tighter inventory at the end of a foreclosure wave typically results in an increase in asking prices, according to Trulia.
For August, asking prices for homes in judicial states increased by 6.9 percent year-over-year, which is close behind the 7.8 jump in non-judicial states. By comparison, there was a much wider gap between the two in August 2013 when asking prices in judicial states rose by just 5.1 percent compared to 14.1 percent in non-judicial states. Only four metros out of the top 100 experienced a year-over-year decrease in home asking prices from August 2013 to August 2014: Albany, New York; El Paso, Texas; New Haven, Connecticut; and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Foreclosure prevention counselors have saved homeowners millions of dollars annually, according to a recent study by the Urban Institute for NeighborWorks America. The September 2014 Urban Institute Report on the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program concluded that homeowners in default or in danger of defaulting who consult NFMC counselors are almost three times more likely to prevent foreclosure by way of mortgage modification. The average annual payment reduction for an NFMC-counseled homeowner who obtained a mortgage modification was $4,980.
