Foreclosures Reach An All Time High

eric1

Two in 15 home loans were at least one payment past due or in foreclosure at the beginning of July 2009. That is the highest combined rate since the MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association) began keeping such records in 1972.

This past Thursday, new statistics indicated that one in 11 mortgage loans (9.24 percent) were at least one month past due but not in foreclosure. That is a huge increase over last year when the delinquency rate was 6.41 percent, or about one in 15.6 mortgages.
At the beginning of July of this year, one in 23 mortgages (4.3 percent) was in the process of foreclosure. Compare that to a year earlier when the foreclosure rate was one in 36 mortgages, or 2.75 percent.

There has been a significant shift in the type of loans that are foreclosing. For a few years, subprime loans made up the lion's share of delinquencies and foreclosures. However, this past year there has been a shift towards fixed-rate loans.

Initially, the foreclosures were due to the type of loans people had (such as sub-prime). Now, the bulk of the foreclosures are due to economic conditions such as job losses or pay cuts.

There have been many foreclosure prevention policies and refinancing programs put in place over the past 18 months. These programs and policies focus on individuals whose payments have increased. They are not addressing those issues related to job losses. Even the Making Home Affordable program created by Obama cannot help those people because both Fannie and Freddie guidelines require a borrower to be employed when applying for a new loan.
Declining property values and unemployment have hit Florida homeowners hard. They have the highest rate of delinquency and foreclosure. Over 10% of mortgages were at least 30 days past due at the beginning of July. Another 12% percent were in foreclosure. That is a combined 22% of Florida mortgages that were delinquent or in foreclosure.....10 in 44. No wonder many lenders are staying away from Florida.

Nevada was not far behind with a combined deliquency rate of 21.27% .......10 in 47.

North Dakota is in the best shape with a delinquency rate of 3.76% and a foreclosure rate of 1%.

There are those who feel that foreclosures and the decline real estate market are leveling off. My opinion is there is more to come. Many borrowers out there have been laid off and received severance packages. Those packages will seen expire and will create more payment challenges out there resulting in foreclosures.

Stay tuned !!

fredwaltz · Joined: 17 Aug 2009 Posts: 60 1.12 Dollars($)

eric,

I hope that the situation in july 2009 does not get worse in coming future.
People are now declaring BK or foreclosing their homes because they have lost their jobs and it will atleast take a year to regain their financial strength after they get a new job.

So in my opinion they will bwe in position to pay the mortgage when recession will stop and people will start getting new jobs and after atleast 1 year people will be in position to pay for the mortgage bills.

But I didn't got the issue why Mr. Obama can't help those who are unemployed.Whether Fannie and fredie are having more power than that of Mr. President???
I hope this should not be the case atleast at this kind of situation.

gmakerley · Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:49 am Post subject:

fred, come on now. do you honestly believe that a president is that powerful that he alone can "help those who are unemployed?" fannie and freddie are not even in that mix. remember that every piece of legislation that comes to congress from the mind of a president is just a concept at that time, and that congress then bends, twists, ties and unties, debates about and eventually either kills or authorizes this legislation.

i know we have become accustomed to presidents who abuse their power and pretend that the rules they are beholden to are of their own choosing, but we are still governed by a system of checks and balances, and that's proven pretty doggoned effective for over 230 years now.

eric1 · Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:01 pm Post subject:

To add another point of view...

Politicians often propose new legislation which on the surface sounds like a herculean effort to help save the world. However, when you read the fine print, they are only going to be able to help three people based upon the stipulations attached to that program.

A prime example is the DU Refi Plus program. Great idea, however very few qualified. Even now that they raised the LTV limit to 125%. Most of the loans that are in trouble are not currently with Fannie....so they do not qualify. If the Obama admin want to put the money where their mouths are, they should back Fannie and push them to allow any/all loans to be eligible as long as they meet the LTV requirements. Why? the people with sub prime loans that adjusted upwards are the ones who are struggling most and need some type of relief.

bensonclive · Joined: 16 Aug 2009 Posts: 91 -0.12 Dollars($)

I agree with both eric's and george's views about the matter.Politicians do talk about a skyrocketing commitments (???) but ultimately the system has to bear with it,when it comes to implementation part.

System does have its loopholes and thus success of any of the popular program announced by a politician will lot more depend how system respond to this scheme.
thanks

savior70 · Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:54 am Post subject:

Hi all,

There's no denying the fact that the Home Affordable Programs announced by the Obama Administration, has failed to live up to the expectation of people. No doubt, legislation does not do any good to people, unless it is properly implemented. Making a law or a rule is as important as implementing it in practicality.

Eric is right in saying that it is the sub-prime borrowers who are struggling to stay afloat on their mortgages due to upwards adjustment and they are the ones who desperately need help. The Home Affordable Programs can help only those borrowers who have loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. This means that the majority of struggling homeowners are being deprived of any assistance and this is contributing towards the rise in the number of delinquency and foreclosures in the country. Declining property value, job loss and inflation have contributed further to make the situation worse.

jenkin7 · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 2:31 am Post subject:

It's true that most of the policies announced by the Govt. so far have focused primarily on those whose mortgage payments have increased due to an upward adjustment. No such measures have been taken keeping in mind the plight of those homeowners who've lost their jobs and cannot stay afloat on their mortgages. The Govt. should take steps to help them before it's too late. Otherwise, the number of delinquencies and foreclosures is only going to increase in the days to come.

thewretched02 · Joined: 23 Jun 2009 Posts: 115 23.90 Dollars($)

I wonder how many foreclosures are actually avoidable.

There is a great deal of financial illiteracy out there, and I think a general apathy to get eductaed on what the optionss are or how credit and debt actually work.

I applaud those who make the effort ot find out more information, such as the people that surf this forum, but have little sympathy for thise who sign up for loans without giving some thought to whether they can actually pay them off.

gmakerley · Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:37 pm Post subject:

my only addition to 02's comment is that those who surf this forum and others like it need to be aware that much of the opinion that they may read is coming from others like themselves, many of whom know just enough to be dangerous.

Guest

Lets hope that real estate prices nationally have reached their low point. If we see positive indicators over the winter months by spring and summer 2010 we should be looking at a market trending up in the right direction once again. If not President Obama might be in his second term in office before we are out of this mess. joeb

uyyasmin · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 2 1.31 Dollars($)

The number of foreclosures has really been rising recently. Sad to say, many people have been affected by that and the problem is still unresolved until now. I hope the situation does not get even worse. We all have to cooperate and make a move, not just the government alone.

wsumeet · Joined: 31 Oct 2009 Posts: 5 1.66 Dollars($)

I wonder how many foreclosures are actually avoidable

gmakerley · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:37 pm Post subject:

easy answer: "many"

riseabove · Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Posts: 70 12.67 Dollars($)

Unemployment must be really influencing this at the moment - pretty tough to pay a mortgage without a job.

seems that the general idea is to play a waiting game, try and tread water and beg borrow or steal what you need to service your loans at present until the economy recovers and unemployment rates drop back to more normal levels. The question is how long will it take and how many people wont be able to hold on that long.

I think that initally many of the foreclosures may be due to uniformed choices and financial illiteracy, but as time goe on we are now seeing the people that have been hanging on by their finger tips but just can't do it anymore starting to slip - mores the pity.

Still, being aware of what help is available and where to find it could probably still prevent a good number of foreclosures.

One thing is for certian though - in 5 years time the general population will be a lot more financially literate and savvy than they have been for a long time - necessity can be a tough but thorough teacher.

gmakerley · Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:32 am Post subject:

well put, rise.

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