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Foreclosures Soar As Moratoriums Expire

According to a Reuters article, RealtyTrac is reporting that filings, which includes bank repossessions, notice of defaults, and auction sales, are up 17% from February to March and up 24% quarter over quarter.

The surge in filings is a result of bank foreclosure moratoriums that have been expiring.

Rick Sharga, the senior vice president at RealtyTrac said, "We still anticipate that we'll see upward of 3 million households receive a foreclosure notice this year, up from 2.4 million last year."

The graph to the left shows the volume of mortgages that are due to reset over the next three years.

The problem is that while mortgage rates have plunged, millions of Americans have been unable to refinance because their home is worth less than what they owe, this has spawned millions of zombie homeowners.

And the number of under water home owners is only accelerating. The trend is that home value declines are actually picking up speed rather than leveling off.

It is a perfect storm, millions of underwater home owners, massive job losses, and weak demand for real estate; it all adds up to declining home values, bank losses, and a strong economic headwind.

Posted by Mark MacKenzie on 04/20/2009 08:36 AM

Comments (10)

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10 Comments on Foreclosures Soar As Moratoriums Expire

APR

It does not look as if the moratorium did much except delay the inevitable. At some point the market will be cleaned up...but who knows when that will happen.

The Moratorium was a delay...and maybe it was needed to, but it will be interesting to look back eventually and see what the true effect of the delay was.

I am sure it cleaned up a few easy short sales and maybe helped some families make it through the winter but over all i think your right it was just a band-aid on a cut needing surgery!

What Gary said is the truth, the current admin just didnt want to seem like it was bad they were taking over and the storm hit. But Im excited more REOS coming :)

No one can keep up with these foreclosures. Not even investors. Time to buy REO's

Gary: Agreed. I think the moratoriums did what everybody thought they would do - nothing.

Stuart: I think we will find out shortly, this is going to be an interesting year if they are predicting it will be worse than last year.

Marcus: Indeed.

Heather: Plenty of REOs coming.

Well I hope they come soon - in the heat of the high buying season so we can absorb some of this mess! Our inventory is so low right now it isn't even funny. We need something to sell other than the underpriced home with 50 offers on it. We used to get away with the overbid net being 2-3% above list. We have lost TWO , count em TWO homes that we overbid by 20 percent for TWO different buyers in the last week.

Something has to give. Either price it right or dump more out there for the buyers.

This is just what the hesitant buyer needs to hear. Already most of them can't make up their minds because there's too much to choose from, so lets announce that more are coming. At this rate we're in for a heavy October as everyone tries to get in under the wire to take advantage of the tax credit.

By the way, has anybody else heard about the $8,000 tax credit available for fist time home buyers?

The banks still have 700,000 on their books not listed with a realtor. The hammer is coming and it will not stop. Investors and primary home buyers are starting to come out like mad. Here in Phoenix, we are closing about 1600+ homes per week and climbing. The inventory is starting to shrink and fast.

Mark, as most of us knew, the numbers had to begin rising again, and will continue as the economy remains weak. While we may see a significant surge in investor purchases, there aren't enough investors to buy the foreclosures that are yet to come.

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