November Foreclosure Rates Down, Could This Be A Sign?

December 13, 2008

In November 2008 the foreclosure rate dropped 7 percent. Could this be the beginning of the bottom for foreclosures? Anytime you look at statistics or analyze data you get different answers depending on how much data you look at. In this instance only looking at one month, the month of November would lead you to believe that foreclosures are starting to slow. Look at 3 to 4 months of data and you will find a different answer.

One possibility of the slow down in November is the foreclosure moratorium that Fanni Mae and Freddie Mac have put on repossessions of homes and foreclosures. In an effort to keep more home owners in their homes and slow the foreclosure rate these two, now government owned companies have stopped foreclousre repossessions for a 90 day period.

over 78,000 home owners lost their homes in the month of November. This is an enormous number of people, now out on the street. This is down almost 8 percent from the month of October with over 84,000 home owners loosing their home to foreclosure.

Since the housing market took a steep dive from its peak in August of 2007 over 1 million home owners have lost their house to foreclosure. You can make a claim that many of these people over purchased and that is the reason they are loosing their homes now. The fact is not all of these people can be sub prime mortgage holders and over purchased.

Only the months ahead will let us know if the foreclosures are starting to slow. My opinion is the foreclosure rate will hold steady at an alarming rate until the government can do more to keep people in their homes. When our new american president Barrack Obama takes seat in January lets home real estate is one of the issues he tackles to get our economy back on the right track. 

In the mean time if you own real estate and need to sell your home, I suggest you find a local home buyer in your area. There are still people who are buying new homes, growing their family and starting their life. Everyone wants to own their own home, if not for a long term investment then for comfort.


Harvard To Study The Real Estate Market – When Will It Be Easy To Sell My House

July 7, 2008

The fact that the real estate industry is at a low point right now is not a secret. However, even Harvard has taken on the real estate market to analyze what is currently influencing and affecting the industry.

Home prices and sales in the real estate market have plummeted. In addition, foreclosure statistics are increasing dramatically and rates to secure a new mortgage are rising. With the housing market looking so bleak, Harvard studies decided to see what factors impact future housing decisions. Most importantly, these Harvard studies want to see when the real estate market will improve as the industry has a strong impact on the overall economy.

The current real estate market has many home owners wondering, how can I sell my house, where are all the home buyers. When the real estate market takes a turn for the worst hundreds of thousands of home owners are stuck with a home they either can not afford or do not need. For this reason Harvard has decided to study the real estate market and decipher, what will bring the real estate market back to life.

According to the latest study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, the future is looking bright. The country is set to improve in the real estate sector in the next decade. Specifically, the demand for housing will help to offset the current problems in the industry.

The best news for the housing market is that the United States is growing. With an increase in population, the need for places to live will grow exponentially, helping to drive the need for more houses. In addition, there are a variety of social trends that will help fuel future housing increases. People are getting married later in life and getting divorced more and more frequently, making the number of single person households increase. In addition, there is a higher life expectancy for baby boomers and echo boomers.

Finally, immigration will play a large role in the increase in housing demand with an annual projection of 1.2 million each year. In other words, from 2010 to 2020, the number of households needing a home will increase on average by more than 1.4 million each year.

This increase in housing demand will play a critical role in improving the current real estate market. Once the effects of subprime mortgage rates and other housing impacts become steady again, the real estate market will see an increase in the industry due to these social factors and immigration.

However, before the good times in the real estate sector can begin, the number of unsold homes must decrease. The number of vacant homes currently available for sale rose 46 percent to a total of 2.12 million homes from 2005 to 2007. These vacant homes have terrorized the existing real estate market, lowering prices and halting new construction. As of earlier this year, there was an 11 month supply of unsold new homes.

If you need to sell your vacant home I suggest contacting your local home buyer in your area. Local home buyers are professional real estate investors who purchase houses quickly for cash. This service helps you sell your house quick so you can move on with your life. Besides, a vacant house could be a great home for another loving family.

To compare, a six month supply is considered a buyers market and the 11 month statistic shows the deep increase in unsold homes currently on the market. With a reduction in supply, prices will again rise, interest rates will go down, employment will increase from construction and other related industries and consumer confidence will once again climb.

The factors that impact the real estate market are set to change our current dip. All we need now is time to bring about the social changes and immigration in order to see the housing market back on its feet again. When this happens home owners will have a better change to sell their house fast for the price they need. Until then, if you are thinking how can I sell my house myself for a fair price, contact your local home buyer.


Banks are Freezing Home Equity Lines Of Credit – Do You Need Yours To Sell Your House?

July 4, 2008

What would you do if your bank called to tell you that your home equity line of credit had been frozen or even cancelled? For most homeowners, shock would be the first emotion followed quickly by confusion.

Why would banks be pulling the line of credit from homeowners who have had no trouble paying off the loan. Banks have recently been pulling home equity lines of credit from all applicants, even those homeowners who never tapped the line of financial credit.

The number of homeowners who have been affected have been in the tens of thousands, as more and more banks are trying to stem mortgage losses. As banks are dealing with heavy losses from their subprime mortgages and additional high risk loans, the viable home equity loans are also taking a hit as the bank pulls the money before this equity credit line also becomes a problem.

Essentially, banks are trying to save their money from being lost to homes that fall into foreclosure. There are many home owners who took out lines of credit on their house when the real estate market was high. Now these some home owners are needing to sell their house but are having obvious problems finding home buyers. The first thing home owners look to for money when they can no longer afford their mortgage is the equity in their house.

In late third period of 2007, the delinquencies on HELOC mortgages increased 47 percent from the previous year. Analysts have predicted higher numbers for 2008. For this reason, banks have been responded by pulling their Home Equity Lines of Credit, most of which were in high foreclosure cites like, Las Vegas Nevada, Stockton California, Boise Idaho, Miami Florida, Houston Texas, New Jersey, and Orlando Florida.

Where are you most vulnerable to have a frozen HELOC? If you live in a housing area where prices have fallen by 10 percent or more, your property might be the prime target for a HELOC freeze. There are new lending standards which means that your HELOC will be in danger of disappearing if you bought your home with little money down, especially if you purchased your new home within the last few years.

These factors will combine to see a higher rate of foreclosures and might make your financial institution feel that they need to pull the plug on the HELOC before real money troubles begin. Whereas lenders were able to borrow as much as 100 percent of the home value in previous years, most homeowners cannot see more than 90 percent or even as high as 60 percent in some areas that have been severely hit by declines in the housing market.

If you established your HELOC a few years ago, you might be in for a surprise. Current lenders are applying the same revised standards retroactively to current HELOC owners. In order to verify your loan cap, you should contact your bank to see if your loan is at risk. If you miss a payment or have a change in your credit score, your HELOC might also be flagged for a potential freeze.

What should you do? If you are using your HELOC to finish a renovation, you can potentially pull out a lump sum in order to finish the project. You will want to only take what you need so that you do not get into harder financial troubles.

If your HELOC has already been put on hold, you can fight the decision with your financial institution. Look to see why the line was suspended and what you can do to appeal the decision. As many banks automate the process to freezing the loans, you can appeal to a person for a reverse in the decision.

If you are thinking of using your home equity line of credit to pay your mortgage while you sell your house, you might want to pull money out quick. The banks are implementing this new freeze standard nation wide so save the money they have. Your best option to sell your house fast is to get an offer from a local home buyer. These professionals are in every major city in the nation and make their living from helping people sell their house fast.


Real Estate Directories

July 20, 2007

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