Over 6,600 Home Foreclosure Filings Per Day

Over 6,600 Home Foreclosure Filings Per Day

According to this REUTERS article, Foreclosures mark pace of enduring U.S. housing crisis, in the US there is a foreclosure every 13 seconds which translates into "more than 6,600 home foreclosure filings per day, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan watchdog group based in Durham, North Carolina. With nearly two million already this year, the flood of foreclosures shows no sign of abating any time soon."

According to the article, "the country's worst housing downturn since record-keeping began in the late 19th century may only get worse since foreclosures, which started with subprime borrowers, have now moved on to the much bigger prime loan market on the back of mounting unemployment. In congressional testimony last month Michael Barr, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for financial institutions, said more than 6 million families could face foreclosure over the next three years."

The article references a September 2009 report from a FL foreclosure task force as finding that people are now defaulting on their mortgages for different reasons. The report states "People are no longer defaulting simply because of a change in the payment structure of their loan. They are defaulting because of lost jobs or reduced hours or pay."

According to the article, "A recent pickup in sales and home prices in some regions has been heralded as a sign that the crisis in residential real estate may be close to bottoming out, after the steepest price decline since at least 1890. But nearly half of recent sales have been attributed to foreclosures or "short sales" at bargain-basement prices. Even as the U.S. economy seems to be recovering from its worst recession since the Great Depression, mortgage delinquencies continue to rise. And that adds risk to any relatively upbeat assessment, since foreclosures depress the value of nearby properties while eroding the net worth of homeowners and the tax base for communities nationwide. The Center for Responsible Lending says foreclosures are on track to wipe out $502 billion in property values this year. That spillover effect from foreclosures is one reason why Celia Chen of Moody's Economy.com says nationwide home prices won't regain the peak levels they reached in 2006 until 2020. In states hardest-hit by the housing bust, like Florida and California, the rebound will take until 2030, Chen predicted."

The article quotes Celia Chen of Moody's as saying "The default rates, the delinquency rates, are still rising. Rising joblessness combined with a large degree of negative equity are going to cause foreclosures to increase. Anyone doubting that the recovery in U.S. real estate prices will be long and hard should take a look at Japan, Chen said. Prices there are still off about 50 percent from the peak they hit 15 years ago."

According to the article, the chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, Jay Brinkmann, thought that foreclosures would peak in the second half of 2010. The problem is that this somewhat rosy prediction is based on unemployment falling in 2010 after reaching a peak "barely in double digits by the middle of next year." As we already know, the US unemployment rate reached 9.8% in September 2009 and show no signs of going down anytime soon.

I think this article provides even more evidence that the US real estate/housing short sale and foreclosure crisis is not going to end anytime soon. As more people lose their jobs, short sales and foreclosures will increase for the next several years since it will take until at least 2011 before the unemployment starts to go back down and even then it will take until at least 2012 or 2013 before the US unemployment reaches a level where people can afford to pay their mortgages. The net effect of all this will be that US real estate and housing prices will continue to decline for the next several years leaving more homeowners underwater.

If you are a homeowner in Middle Tennessee who is unemployed, have seen your income decline, has been turned down for a loan forbearance or loan modification and your home is worth less than your mortgage balance, please contact me to discuss selling your home via a short sale. I am a Middle Tennessee distressed real estate, short sale, pre-foreclosure (preforeclosure) and foreclosure expert and REALTOR. I serve real estate owners, homeowners and investment property owners in Rutherford County TN, Williamson County TN, Davidson County TN, Murfreesboro TN, Smyrna TN, La Vergne TN, Eagleville TN, Lascassas TN, Rockvale TN, Christiana TN, Brentwood TN, Franklin TN, Nashville TN and Belle Meade TN.

If you need to sell your home fast via a short sale you can my request help on my website at Get Help and Assistance from a Middle TN Short Sale and Foreclosure Expert and REALTOR.