Tag Archives: RealtyTrac

Foreclosure filings are down to record lows, but a more sinister-sounding problem may be on the rise—"zombie foreclosures." RealtyTrac released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for February, reporting that foreclosure filings (default notices, schedule auctions, and bank repossessions) were 112,498, down 10 percent from January and down 27 percent from the previous year.

RealtyTrac released its January 2014 Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report on Thursday, revealing institutional investors made up 5.2 percent of all U.S. residential property sales in January. Institutional investor sales are down from 7.9 percent in December, and down 8.2 percent from January, 2013.

RealtyTrac released a housing affordability analysis, noting an average 21 percent increase in monthly house payments from a year ago. The report showed that house payments in all counties purchased in the fourth quarter of 2013 rose to $865, based on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with an interest rate of 4.46 percent and a 20 percent down payment.

RealtyTrac released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for January, 2014. The report noted an 8 percent increase of reported properties from the previous month, citing 124,419 properties in foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions). Year-to-year, January, 2014 represented an 18 percent drop from January, 2013.

While the housing market made great strides toward recovery last year with improvements in foreclosures, home prices, and homeowner equity, the economy is “still healing” from the effects of the recent downturn, according to the latest Housing Scorecard from the Obama administration. Released Friday, the January report found several improving indicators and particular strength in the San Francisco metro area, which has benefited from significant government support.

RealtyTrac released on Thursday its Year-End and Q4 2013 Home Flipping Report, which shows single-family home flips—in which a home is purchase and sold again within six months—totaled 156,862 last year, up 16 percent from 2012 and 114 percent from 2011.

Despite declining foreclosure starts over the year, distressed sales made up a higher percentage of overall home sales in 2013 than they did the previous year, according to the U.S. Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report released Thursday by RealtyTrac. Foreclosure sales—which include sales to third-party buyers at foreclosure auction and sales of REOs—combined with short sales to make up 16.2 percent of residential property sales in 2013, up from 14.5 percent in 2012. The report also revealed an uptick in cash purchases at the close of the year.

With fewer properties entering the foreclosure process and more delinquent borrowers avoiding foreclosure, the number of foreclosed single-family homes held by lenders and government agencies has rapidly declined. In the April issue of DS News magazine, contributing writer Keith Button explored the many market drivers taking their toll on the once-strong stock of bank-owned homes.

The national foreclosure crisis is reaching its end as many markets work their way toward normalcy, according to the latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac. As major evidence of this trend, RealtyTrac reports foreclosure starts reached a 95-month low in November. At the same time, overall foreclosure activity across the nation declined by 15 percent from October to November, while year-over-year, activity was down 37 percent.

Home prices and home sales have been rising over the past few years, pointing to a recovery in the housing market, but some warn that what we are seeing may not be a true recovery but instead a mirage created by investors--a dangerous mirage that could lead to trouble in the years to come. According to multiple industry studies, cash purchases made up about half of all home sales across the nation in September.