Foreclosures rise 58 percent in first half of ’07

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC/AP

The number of U.S. homes facing foreclosure surged 58 percent in the first six months of the year, the latest sign of mounting problems in the mortgage industry, a data firm said Monday.

In all, 573,397 properties across the nation reported some sort of foreclosure activity in the first half of this year, including receiving notices of default, auction sale notices or being repossessed by lenders, Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc. said.

That was 58 percent higher than the 363,672 properties in the first six months of 2006 and 32 percent higher than the 433,504 in the last six months of 2006.

“We could easily surpass 2 million foreclosure filings by the end of the year, which would represent a year-over-year increase of over 65 percent,” said RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio.

California, Florida, Texas and Ohio were among the states with the highest number of homes receiving foreclosure-related notices, the firm said.


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20041753/

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Yep, all fine here

nothing to see, move along

[purduejake]

2. Almost time for the super-rich to buy up all these houses...

And then make a killing once the market rebounds.

[Demeter]

5. Ain't Gonna Happen

Far more likely that houses will sit abandoned and vacant, deteriorating, while the mortgage holders try to unload them at auction. We could see squatters, even. It's going to be ugly, and it's going to last a long time.

[Doctor_J]

8. Maybe it's time for me to join Carlton Sheets's team

:crazy:

[OneBlueSky]

3. in the year 2090, The Corporation will own virtually all residential real estate . . .

in the U.S., and all but the wealthiest will be lifetime renters . . . The Corporation, of course, came into being in the 2070s, when corporate buyouts and mergers reached their peak and the former Microsoft emerged as the last remaining corporation . . . they own everything . . .

[lebkuchen]

4. The UK is having the same problem

Housing prices there are so high, especially in England. W/the current pound/dollar exchange rate, and taking into consideration that I earn more than the average Englishman, a standard 100 m2 house costs about a million dollars. I don't know how that country gets by, but I do understand why the UK ranks as the worst country in 21 economically developed nations in which to be a child (the US ranks #20).

[Doctor_J]

9. w/ the current exchange rate, you should come & buy

abandoned US homes. They're cheap for us, even cheaper for you!

[lebkuchen]

12. I can't afford US houses yet, either (I'm paid in $)

(which gives you a sense of how little the average Englishman makes).

I'm looking at Germany instead, where the huge market swings in housing aren't apparent.

[BlueManDude]

6. Everything's great according to Larry (Keeping America Great) Kudlow.

[SpiralHawk]

7. "Experts agree: everything is just peachy." - republicon Homelander cronies

"Smirk, smirk, smirk." - republicon Homelander cronies

[David__77]

10. My town, Sacramento, is the hub of the housing/credit meltdown.

As someone who wants to buy a home, I cannot help but be pleased that prices have already dropped 15% here from their summer 2005 peak, though I do feel bad for the thousands of families who lost, are losing, or will lose their homes. As a child, my family lost its home to foreclosure, so I certainly understand.

In my county, there were 1066 foreclosures in the firth five months of the year. Floreclosures and short sales have flooded the housing market. But there's much more to come. So many people are hanging by a thread because they overextended themselves in the faulty belief that inflation-adjusted prices would continuously balloon, leaving them an out of need be; quite the contrary, they're sitting on negative equity.

For this reason, locally, it's optimal to rent at this time. I've seen a couple deals like a 3-bedroom condo for 130,000. The same unit sold for 195,000 in May 2006. On the other hand, prior to that time, it sold for 85,000 in May 2001. What a wild change in prices! To be restored to its pre-bubble 2001 price in inflation-adjusted terms, it would have to fall another 23% to 100,000. As the bubble-watchers here have been saying, we're looking for a 50% drop from peak in median prices.

[MetaTrope]

11. Nice commentary at this site

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/real_estate_/index.html

"David F. Seiders, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, said the unexpected weakness in recent months had caused him to shave his forecast for housing construction this year. It now shows a fall of 23 percent after a 14 percent drop in 2006."

I spit my coffee out all over my keyboard when I read that WTF?!? line this morning. Unexpected weakness? Seriously, some of these housing shills are starting to make Baghdad Bob look like a respectable spokesman.