Tag Archives: Home Sales

Third-party investors are reselling foreclosure properties they've scooped up at auction at a rapid pace in states along the country's Western seaboard. In fact, they're moving distressed homes faster than lenders, according to a local tracking firm. ForeclosureRadar says the resell timeframe for foreclosure investors has dropped throughout its five-state coverage area. The company says it's partially due to spring selling activity, but more to do with a lack of quality, affordable homes for sale as a result of foreclosure delays.

Fannie Mae announced Tuesday that it is beefing up incentives to encourage sales of its HomePath REO properties to owner occupants. Selling agents representing an owner occupant buyer will get a $1,200 bonus. At the same time, qualified homebuyers can receive up to 3.5 percent of the final sales price to put toward closing costs. Eligible offers may be submitted any time after June 14, 2011 but must close by October 31, 2011. As of the end of March, Fannie's single-family REO inventory stood at 153,224 properties.

The nation's Capitol stands out as the ""shining star"" in nearly every market report that crosses the wire. Washington, D.C. has consistently resisted home price declines, sales activity bucks widespread trends, and foreclosure numbers, too, have been almost non-existent due to an unofficial moratorium. Is it the absence of foreclosure property that's behind D.C.'s defiant market performance and will it turn now that emergency mediation rules have been enacted to restart foreclosures? Local experts say no, D.C. is just a market to itself.

Clear Capital sees signs of market stability as we move into the summer months. New data released Thursday by the company shows that U.S. home prices continue to fall, but the 2.3 percent drop recorded for the three months ending in May was half the decline seen in the previous month's report. Clear Capital says the median price paid for distressed properties has started to rise, indicating the REO market is seeing increased activity toward the upper end of the price range and helping to rein in the depreciating trend of the past several months.

The Federal Reserve has published a new rendition of its popular Beige Book, relaying insight from professionals in the field on regional market conditions. A number of the 12 Fed districts noted improvements in overall credit quality, specifically Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco. New York was the only district to report rising delinquency rates on consumer loans, but it saw delinquencies decline for commercial loans and mortgages.

First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. (FGMC) recently partnered with APD Solutions and Home Depot to launch an initiative aimed at accelerating the resale of REO properties and rebuilding the housing stock nationwide. Coined ""Rebuild the Dream,"" the initiative seeks to reduce the time cycle on the sale of bank-owned homes and improve sale prices by providing incentives to homebuyers and real estate selling agents to use rehabilitation loans to increase the value and appeal of REO properties.

While home sales have slowed from the typical pace seen at the start of the spring buying season, Radar Logic says the foreclosure market is performing better than the market for all other homes. The company's count of motivated transactions - which includes sales at foreclosure auctions and subsequent bank-owned properties - has posted significantly stronger gains during the first part of this year than traditional home sales when compared to each market's historical performance. Radar Logic credits investment buyers for the foreclosure market's boost.

Pending sales of existing homes - which in recent months have been nearly 40 percent comprised of REO and short sale properties - slipped much further than the market was expecting in April, signaling a feeble start to what typically would be the strongest home buying season of the year. The National Association of Realtors says following fairly commendable gains in February and March, its pending sales index dropped 11.6 percent in April. Economists had been expecting a decline, but significantly smaller at just 1 percent.

Local reports indicate investors have been snapping up more foreclosure and REO homes in recent months, and a new industry survey suggests they are poised to become an even bigger presence. According to Move, Inc., real estate investors will be more active in their local markets by a three-to-one margin compared to typical homebuyers over the next 24 months. The company says today's investor doesn't fit the common stereotype. Fifty percent plan to hold their properties for five-plus years, and three-fourths plan to combine cash and credit for a buy.

Home prices in the U.S. continue to tumble as foreclosures claim a larger share of the market. Residential prices slipped 2.5 percent during the first quarter of this year when compared to the previous quarter, according to a national index calculated using sales prices from mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The index shows prices fell 5.5 percent between the first quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011. It's the largest annual drop recorded since the second quarter of 2009.