Tag Archives: Real Estate Investment

Citing data from Lender Processing Services estimating more than 2 million properties in some state of foreclosure, Fitch Ratings says REO sales - both single-property and bulk sales - will be an integral component of the housing market over the next two years. However, the timing and method of disposition will have significant implications for home prices, according to Fitch. The agency notes that distressed properties generally sell at a substantial discount, further exacerbated by the presence of excess inventory.

With the holiday season approaching, the tracking firm ForeclosureRadar is seeing declines in the number of completed foreclosures in four of the five states it monitors along the country's West Coast - California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Only Arizona saw foreclosure sales rise in November, up 25 percent from October. Even with the recent increase, Arizona's numbers remain well below the state's monthly average for the year. Sales of foreclosures to third-party investors have risen sharply when compared to year-ago levels.

There's been much debate over the root causes of the housing meltdown that catapulted the nation into the worst financial crisis in 80 years. A new report from the Federal Reserve focuses on the sharp run-up and subsequent collapse in housing prices during the 2000s. It concludes that real estate investors who used mortgage credit to purchase multiple properties played a larger role in fueling the housing bubble than previously recognized, pushing prices up during the boom and then defaulting in large numbers when prices began to head south.

Looking for an REO buyer? It's becoming harder to find owner-occupants to fit that bill. New Vista Asset Management has published the results of a three-year study on buyers of foreclosed homes, covering 18 counties hit hardest by the mortgage crisis. The company says the percentage of REO homes sold to owner-occupants has decreased in almost every market. In Los Angeles, for example, the share of owner-occupant REO buyers dropped from 80 percent in 2009 to 60 percent by the third quarter of 2011.

September marked the 20th consecutive month that distressed sales made up more than 20 percent of commercial property sales, according to Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Index. The index reported distressed transactions for the month accounted for 25.9 percent of all commercial transactions. While distressed sales were in keeping with recent trends, commercial property prices broke a four-month streak of increases with a 1.4 percent decline in September, according to Moody's.

Econohomes has launched a new website aimed at redefining the online experience for real estate investors and homebuyers as they shop for foreclosed REO homes. The company buys residential properties in volume at discounted prices from mortgage lenders and servicers. Its online inventory comprises REO homes in more than 40 states, including properties that have been renovated.

Thirty-three senators have put out a letter encouraging the Obama administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to work quickly in developing a program to make vacant foreclosed homes available for rent. The administration is currently sifting through responses to the request for information (RFI) it issued in August regarding an REO rental program. The senators want federal officials to respond with a timeline for when they expect to finish reviewing the RFIs and their next steps.

Foreigners may get an added bonus when they invest in residential real estate in the United States - a visa. Senators from New York and Utah are proposing a bill that would offer residence visas to foreigners when they spend at least $500,000 in the U.S. residential real estate market. Investors may split their spending between two or more properties, as long as they spend at least $250,000 on one home and $500,000 or more total. Economists say low prices resulting from high levels of foreclosures in some states have served to entice foreign buyers.

Mortgage litigations in the second quarter of 2011 have more than doubled since last year, according to an industry report released Monday. During the April-to-June period, mortgage litigations reached 190 cases, up from 75 over the same quarter in 2010 and 151 during the first quarter of this year. Foreclosure-related litigation rose from 29 cases in the second quarter of 2010 to 67 cases a year later. The study also recorded a significant jump in cases involving secondary market transactions.

Last month's 18.6 percent surge in existing-home sales from a year earlier had some market observers doing a double-take, but Galen Ward, who runs a real estate brokerage web site, says it wasn't unexpected. Michael Simonsen of Altos Research says anything is going to look good coming off the market's tax-credit hangover this time last year. But the fact that the median home price was down more than 5 percent from August 2010 at the same time sales jumped so sharply is one of the most telling stats for Clear Capital's Alex Villacorta.