One inportant aspect of the foreclosure market that is NEVER mentioned in any of these statistics  are the number of homes that the mortgage companies are negotiating.  Yes, within the title relm of "foreclosures" are what the banks are reporting - yet record numbers of home owners are actualy able to GET THEIR ACCOUNTS CURRENT and KEEP THEIR HOMES while negotiating with the banks.

How many of the banks report a "once in foreclosure, but now it's not" scenerio?

Roberta, THese are very scary numbers.  I have seen in Florida the return of the investor lately.

  Connie

While I appreciat what you are saying, and I know it is true, what is effecting the market and the economic situation of the country right now is the foreclosure rate.  I am happy for those that are being able to renegotiate their loans, but for those that weren't able it's "too little to late."  Still the foreclosure rate is what it is.  The numbers that we see do not include those that had the opprotunity to work with their lenders because they never foreclosed on that  home.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting and keep rowing.

Matthew

Good to see you!!! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. 

  Yes, they are scary and what's more scary is that they say the worst is yet to come.  Like I said to Connie above there are those that are being able to negotiate with their lenders and that's a good thing, what I didn't say is...there are still lenders out there that will NOT negotiate with the owner.  What are they thinking? 

We all know to well that the housing market is in deep trouble.  We have talked it to death.  It seems to me there are two camps in the thinking of the on going situation, those that say their business couldn't be better and those that are really struggling to stay afloat in the business.

 Just to let you know I live in California and I am one of those struggling and that story is for another blog.

 2008 Q1 FORCLOSURE STATS SHOW DIRE STATE OF INDUSTRY.

  Foreclosure statistics for the first quarter of 2008 were released this week, and, as predicted, things are getting worse for the housing market.  Q1 of this year saw a 23% rise over foreclosure filings from Q4 2007, and 112% rise over Q1 of 2007.

 In raw numbers, around 650,000 homes have between repossessed, or 1 in every 194 households in America.

  -foreclosures increased in 46 states and in 90 of the nation's 100 largest metro areas.

 -previously "safe" areas saw massive foreclosure filing: Connecticut saw 300% increase, while Massachusetts saw a 260% increase.

 -the worst area for foreclosures is the Southwest, specifically California, Nevada and Arizona.  Foreclosure hit 1 of every 54 homes in Nevada, and 1 in 44 homes in Las Vegas.  Stockton, California remains the epicenter of the crisis, with 1 in 30 homes being foreclosed, with Riverside/San Bernardino coming in second with 1 in 38 homes foreclosed.

 If we were to look at the total economy of  the United States, and especially California, Nevada and Arizona you will see that the gas has gone from $3.00 per gallon a year ago to $5.00 in  some areas now,  and at the least $ 4.89 per gallon. Food costs across the board have gone up in the first quarter by 6%.  People are not buying cars, furniture, going out to eat, remodeling their homes, going to movies, theya re opting to do their own yard work instead of having a gardener. and they are not going on vacations the way they were a year ago.  People area cutting back in every area of their lives and most if not all of this began with the housing market tumble.

 People are holding off selling their homes in the most devastated area due to the glut of houses they can buy for less because they are foreclosures.

 For the nay sayers I would say this, IF your market is good and you are still making the same money you did a year ago they I bless you and hope it continues, for those of you paddling in my boat, just put on your life jacket and keep rowing.

Hi Reberta-Lee..sorry it's been a while since I dropped by. This is a serious story, It'll take a number of years to see a change. If people do not have to sell their home they'll have to wait, the only thing that will change the market is the inventory changing, as long as there are more homes than buyers, then prices will continue to decline...Don't you wish you could take all those homes off the market and just put enough For Sale for the number of Buyers there are? Home prices would stop declining over night.

Banks are to blame too, they should know better than to offer all their bad mortgage properties for sale at once, they are deluting there own market and running the risk of not getting their loan(mortgage) funds back. Here Lenders would live a Seller in a home and not force them out, even if they cannot make a mortgage payment.

We all will look back and say I wish I had bought then...hopefully you're nearing the bottom, as it's a huge buying opportunity for Buyers and a huge selection of homes to choice from, the smart home Buyers will be buying.

Good luck, thanks for sharing your story with us all in the the Rain!

Hi Roberta Lee, 

It is a mess and getting messier but the good news is: "this too shall pass", in the meantime I'm rowing as fast as I can.

It is difficult for a lot of people especially for those that were lulled into believing they could live out of their means.

The truth hurts and we cannot deny these numbers, however I have seen not only in my area higher numbers of sales in the last quarters. It has been devastating for many in the country but some believe we are half way out of trouble.