According to a recent report,
approximately 3.7 million Foreclosures have been completed since the housing
meltdown began 6 years ago. Recent numbers show that there were 60,000
completed foreclosures across the U.S. in June 2012 compared to 80,000 in June
2011 and 60,000 in May 2012.
Completed foreclosures are an
indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure.
In the Tampa Bay area, a little
over 36,000 bank owned homes have been sold since 2006 and another 28,000 short
sales have sold and closed as well. These number reflect only homes sold in
Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties.
The inventory of Foreclosed
properties and Short Sale homes for sale in Tampa and the surrounding communities has been steadily
declining over the past 2 years and is down nearly 40% from the same time 2
years ago.
A combination of the “robo
signing” debacle and increased efforts by the Banks to approve “Short
Sale” contracts has contributed to the decrease of foreclosures on a national
level and has given the Tampa Bay real estate market time to stabilize. There are
currently more home buyers than sellers in the Tampa Bay area which has created
a situation similar to the boom of 2005-2006, minus the rapidly escalating
house prices.
It’s not uncommon for multiple
offers to be made on a property that are above the asking price. It would actually
be beneficial if more foreclosures were completed and those homes placed on the
market for sale in our area. The lack of inventory is making it difficult for
home buyers and the stigma attached to Short Sale properties keeps many potential
buyers from making offers on them.
Lenders like Bank of America
have made great progress in the efficiency and speed of which they get these types
of sales approved. Others like Wells Fargo are still taking as much as 8 months
just to get a response.
Highlights as of June 2012:
The five states with the highest
number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in June 2012 were:
California (125,000), Florida (91,000), Michigan (58,000), Texas (56,000) and
Georgia (55,000). These five states account for 48.4 percent of all completed
foreclosures nationally.
The five states with the highest
foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Florida
(11.5 percent), New Jersey (6.5 percent), New York (5.1 percent), Illinois (5.0
percent) and Nevada (4.8 percent).
Completed foreclosures and
real-estate owned (REO) sales actually offset each other over the past four
months, producing static levels of foreclosure inventory for most of this year.