-------------------------------------------------------- http://getforeclosures.blogspot.com/ Tuesday, November 01, 2005 Massachusetts Foreclosures Surge In 2005 The foreclosures in Massachusetts are piling up. "The leading provider of Massachusetts foreclosure data..released its October 2005 report today, with data that shows Massachusetts foreclosure filings to be 33% percent above 2004 levels." "'Foreclosure filings continue to be recorded at levels significantly higher than 2004,' said Jeremy Shapiro. 'Based on our analysis, we expect this trend to continue through year's end, especially with continued interest rate increases prompted by actions such as today's expected rate hike by the Federal Reserve.'" "The 3rd Quarter of 2005 (July through September) marked the highest quarterly total of new foreclosure filings in Massachusetts (2,945) since ForeclosuresMass began collecting data in 2003; additionally, Q3 2005 was 13.93% higher than Q2 2005." "Counties with the largest YTD increases are Essex (49% increase, 1000 in 2005 v. 669 in 2004); Suffolk (43%, 835 in 2005 v. 582 in 2004); and Bristol (43%, 718 in 2005 v. 503 in 2004). Counties with the greatest change from September 2004 to September 2005 were Essex (98.55% increase) and Bristol (112.5% increase). Berkshire was up 250% but due to small sample set its numbers are subject to greater fluctuation." "Towns of note are Lawrence with a 101.54% increase so far in 2005; Lynn experienced a 70.43% increase; and New Bedford, up 54.64% for the year. Some towns are experiencing decreases from 2004 levels, including Whitman with a 42.5% decrease; Agawam is down 24.39%; and Dedham with 13.33% fewer filings in 2005 v. same period in 2004." "Since January 2003 over 24,000 foreclosures have been filed in Massachusetts." posted by Ben Jones @ 11:20 AM 0 comments --- UK Counting Repossesions By The Minutes This report from the UK can be expected in the US soon. "Latest figures from the Department of Constitutional Affairs show a huge rise in the numbers of mortgage possession procedures issued in the county courts. Nationally the number of possession actions entered into in the three months to September 2005 rose to 29,991, up from 19,359 from the same period in 2004, a rise of 55%." "The number of orders made in the three months to September 2005 rose to 19,687 from 11,682, a 66% jump. Analysis of the data by the Liberal Democrats shows that these figures mean that in England and Wales a repossession order is made every seven minutes and an action is entered into every four minutes." "Commenting on the figures Vince Cable MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor said: 'These figures are deeply worrying. While they are at low levels compared to the early 1990's there are clearly big problems ahead. Banks and building societies need to ensure that when individuals take out mortgages they are fully aware of the risks that are involved." "'At long last the Chancellor has now accepted there is a bubble in the housing market. Now he needs to recognise that for many homeowners it is sadly bursting and that he needs to take action. These figures demonstrate the complete absence of an adequate safety net in the mortgage market. The government needs to urgently look at the payment protection insurance markets as products are often over-priced and contain too many exemptions.'" "Regionally a repossession order is made every:" London: 37 minutes South East: 45 minutes West Midlands: 61 minutes North West: 66 minutes Eastern Region: 68 minutes Yorks and Humber: 80 minutes East Midlands: 88 minutes South West: 90 minutes Wales: 122 minutes North East: 140 minutes Merseyside: 207 minutes posted by Ben Jones @ 10:22 AM 0 comments --- Monday, October 31, 2005 Philly Foreclosure Facts This Philadelphia Daily News story on sheriff sales had a few local pointers. "Four times a month, the Philadelphia sheriff's office conducts sheriff's sales, which are a way for mortgage companies and other financial institutions and the government to recover debts owed to them." "Often, the properties in question are sold to new owners. There are mortgage-foreclosure sales for mortgage companies, which are looking to recoup money from homeowners who have defaulted on their home loans." "Delinquent tax sales are how the city collects unpaid real-estate taxes, water and sewer bills. There are also twice-a-month tax-lien sales that cover a variety of liens on properties." "Roughly 1,400 to 1,600 properties are exposed to sheriff sale each month, and about a third of the mortgage foreclosures and one half of tax lien cases result in properties being sold." posted by Ben Jones @ 4:24 PM 0 comments --- Ten Percent Of Subprime Borrowers Are Late Delaware Online has this report on delinquencies. "The initial advice all credit counselors give to homeowners facing foreclosure is: When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. A culprit, said Mike Shannon, a Realtor and foreclosure specialist in Dearborn Heights, Mich., is the prevalence of subprime lending programs, those that help borrowers with poor credit obtain mortgages at higher interest rates, and no-money-down, interest-only mortgages." "'The leniency in lending leaves people in jeopardy, especially when they're doing 100 percent financing, using 80 percent as the primary mortgage and a 20 percent equity line,' he said. 'It really becomes a problem if that financing is based on a two-person-income household and something happens.'" "Nationally, 10 percent of subprime borrowers are late with their mortgage payments, while 3 percent of all sub-prime borrowers are in foreclosure, according to the mortgage bankers group. In Michigan, nearly 16 percent of sub-prime borrowers are delinquent, and 9 percent are seriously delinquent or in foreclosure." posted by Ben Jones @ 8:20 AM 2 comments --- Saturday, October 29, 2005 Foreclosures Near Record In Mesa County, CO The Grand Junction Sentinel reports on foreclosures on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies. "The number of foreclosures in Mesa County during the first 10 months of 2005 is down slightly from the same time last year. According to the Mesa County Public Trustee's Office, 333 foreclosure actions will be opened by Oct. 31. At the same time last year, 337 foreclosures were reported." "Public Trustee Barbara Brewer said the reasons people fall behind on their mortgage payments and drop into foreclosure remain the same. 'We've got people who are just overextended, or it's illness, a death in the family, divorce, loss of job. All of those issues can impact people's ability to pay their loans,' Brewer said." "The number of foreclosures this year appears to be on track to almost match last year's total of 392. That's the most foreclosures in a year in Mesa County since 1988, when 438 foreclosures were reported." posted by Ben Jones @ 1:20 PM 1 comments --- Friday, October 28, 2005 Up To 10% Of Mortgage Apps Include Fraud Inman News has a report on the FBI and mortgage fraud. "'Mortgage fraud is a crisis in the making,' said James Burrus, deputy assistant director of criminal investigations for the FBI. He likened the wave of real estate loan fraud sweeping the country to the savings and loan crisis of the 1970s and 1980s that left failed companies and bankruptcies in its wake." "'It's important that we get together for a solution,' Burrus said. 'After the savings and loan crisis, the government imposed a solution on the banking industry, and I don't think we want that to happen here.'" "Mortgage fraud is on the upswing, with the number of suspicious activity reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2004 almost triple those in 2003, according to a report the FBI released in May. Burrus said around 15,000 SARs were filed in 2004, and more than 20,000 in 2005." "According to the Federal Financial Institutions Council, up to 10 percent of all mortgage loan applications in the $3 trillion annual U.S. residential real estate market involve some form of material misrepresentation." "Some new wrinkles include the rising trend of asset rentals, Burrus said. 'These people will rent you a beach house, a certificate of deposit, things you can say you own for the purpose of getting a loan,' he said. 'Once the loan is obtained, the asset is returned.'" posted by Ben Jones @ 2:40 PM 3 comments --- High Foreclosures Means Big Discounts A report looks at foreclosures and the effect on home prices. "The study by Christopher Cagan, Ph.D., quantifies the correlation between foreclosures as a percentage of total sales and the size of the discount buyers typically receive when purchasing foreclosure properties." "For example, in Maricopa County, Ariz., where foreclosure sales accounted for 1.6 percent of total sales during the first half of 2005, the median discount was 6.3 percent. Whereas in St. Louis, Mo., foreclosures made up 7.9 percent of sales for the same time period, with a median discount of 29.5 percent." "'The prevalence of foreclosures and the depth of discounts are sensitive indicators of the present and future state of a real estate market, regardless of geographic location or market type,' said Cagan." "Among the areas with few foreclosure sales and little or no foreclosure discounts during the first half of 2005 were California, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, New Mexico, Virginia, Nevada, Florida and Arizona. States where foreclosures were most prevalent and discounts were deepest included Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee." posted by Ben Jones @ 11:25 AM 0 comments --- -- -------------------------------------------------------- http://cyberjournal.org "Apocalypse Now and the Brave New World" http://www.cyberjournal.org/cj/rkm/Apocalypse_and_NWO.html Posting archives: http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?date=01Jan2006&batch=25&lists=newslog Subscribe to low-traffic list: •••@••.••• ___________________________________________ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
