Tag Archives: RealtyTrac

‘Zombies’ Make Up 21% of Foreclosures

June 30, 2014 jd

Photo courtesy of: https://www.overseassingaporean.sg/public/forum/upload/index.php?/topic/3893-going-home/

Zombie foreclosures are still haunting the housing market, representing one in every five foreclosures nationally, according to RealtyTrac, a housing data firm. “Zombie foreclosure” is a term coined to describe properties where the foreclosure process has been started and the home owner vacates, but the foreclosure has never been completed. As such, the distressed home owners who vacate eventually find they still own the home, and are often unaware they are still responsible for it.

Find out how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is targeting zombie foreclosures.

The vacated properties can become eyesores in neighborhoods and drive down nearby property values. They also take a big chunk out of local government revenue in the form of unpaid property taxes. RealtyTrac estimates that more than $400 million in property tax revenue is likely delinquent due to zombie foreclosures. Still, the zombie foreclosure rate has shown some improvement, falling 7 percent compared to the first quarter of this year and dropping 16 percent from year-ago levels.

Florida has the highest number of zombie foreclosures, accounting for more than one-third of all zombie foreclosures nationwide. New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Ohio also have some of the highest numbers of zombie foreclosures across the country.

“Most of these states have seen an increase in new foreclosure activity over the past year, creating a more fertile breeding ground for zombie foreclosures,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

Some states, such as Florida and Illinois, are looking to combat zombie foreclosures by weighing legislation that could help “fast track” foreclosures and move the abandoned properties through the system more quickly, RealtyTrac reports. New York is also considering legislation that would make lenders responsible for the upkeep of zombie foreclosures. Some local governments—such as in Cleveland and Detroit—also are creating land banks that would include zombie foreclosures, allowing city officials to rehab properties or demolish them.

Where Zombie Foreclosures Are Highest

On a metro level, the seven markets with the highest number of zombie foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac’s second quarter report, are:

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.
Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.
Jacksonville, Fla.

Meanwhile, California posted the largest drop in zombie foreclosures, down 57 percent in the past year. Other states posting large decreases are Arizona, Nevada, and Washington.

Help me keep this website going
Call today for buying or selling real estate

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John

BRE#00669941

I Sold My Home, Now I Have Nowhere to Go

May 22, 2014 jd

Photo Courtesy of http://luxeestatescollection.com/time-laugh/

More home owners say now is a good time to sell, surveys show, but low inventories have them worried about what their next move would be. With fewer homes on the market and quickly rising home prices, sellers are becoming less confident that they will be able to trade up at an affordable price. So where do they go from here?

Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, says he repeatedly hears this concern from sellers: “I’m afraid to sell my house because I can’t find another one.”

Tim Brampedach, a business owner who lives in San Francisco, tells CNNMoney that his home’s value has risen from $1.2 million to $1.6 million in the past three years. He and his wife want to move to a bigger place, but “[we] are effectively locked into the house. We can’t sell because we can’t afford anything else nearby. … It’s people like us, who live in a fully turnkey home, who can’t supply homes because we have nowhere else to go in the city,” Brampedach says.

The competition for the limited number of homes for sale has heated up in some parts of the country, with buyers facing increasing competition from all-cash buyers. All-cash deals reached a record 43 percent of home sales in the first quarter of this year, according to RealtyTrac.

Some real estate professionals are actively looking for home owners who may consider selling, even mailing them letters or knocking on doors to ask them if they considered it.

One home owner, Kathleen Jackson of South Boston, says she and her husband recently received such an unsolicited offer that they felt was too good to pass up. But they worried if they’d be able to find another home. When the buyer agreed to give the couple until October to find a new home, they accepted the offer. Agents say this tactic is becoming more popular, with some sellers making the sale of their home contingent on their ability to find another home to move into.

Source: “‘I’m Too Afraid to Sell My Home,’” CNNMoney (May 20, 2014)
Please help to keep this blog going
Let us Sell or help you buy your new home or land

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John

BRE#00669941

Real Estate

Home Owners Equity Rising Above Water

September 8, 2013 jd

Jenga Style Homes Photo courtesy of Pleated-jeans.com

In the next 15 months, 8.3 million home owners — about 18 percent of home owners who have a mortgage — are expected to gain enough equity to be in a better position to sell their homes, according to RealtyTrac’s September report on home equity.

“Steadily rising home prices are lifting all boats in this housing market and should spill over into more inventory of homes for sale in the coming months,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Home owners who already have ample equity are quickly building on that equity, while the 8.3 million homeowners on the fence with little or no equity are on track to regain enough equity to sell before 2015 if home prices continue to increase at the rate of 1.33 percent per month that they have since bottoming out in March 2012.

The 8.3 million of home owners have a range of 10 percent negative equity to 10 percent positive equity, according to RealtyTrac. Home owners with low equity may face challenges in selling a home due to the cost of the sale and having a down payment on a new home. As equity rises, more home owners are in the position to sell their home without having to resort such actions as a short sale.

The report also notes that one in four home owners in foreclosure also were found to have positive equity. Home owners with equity may have a better chance at selling their homes before letting the foreclosure process run its course, Blomquist says.

But that’s “assuming they realize they have equity and don’t miss the opportunity to leverage that equity,” Blomquist says. “Even home owners deeply underwater have reason for hope, with about 150,000 each month rising past the 25 percent negative equity milestone — although it will certainly take years rather than months before most of those homeowners have enough equity to sell other than via short sale.”

Source: National Association of Realtor©

Help us keep this blog going
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email

DRE# 00669941

Uncategorized

Large Number of Foreclosed Homes Are Abandoned by Owner

July 8, 2013 jd

Photo credit: Tom Moon ; http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/02/04/worst-foreclosed-home-vandalism-ever/

Here’s a recent article on people going into foreclosures and moving out of their homes. Not said in this article, is how often the homeowner demolished the home that they lived in. I’ve seen some horrible examples, wire being stripped, electrical breakers taken out, and in one case that I saw, they had cut all the wires and controls off of a well pump. An inspector told me of one home owner pouring concrete down toilets. Another took all the appliances out of the home, which seems to be quite common. Anyhow, here’s the article:

“Is anyone home? Apparently not in a large share of foreclosed homes. Twenty percent of foreclosures nationwide are abandoned by their owners and left vacant, according to RealtyTrac.

It’s important to move vacant foreclosures quickly so that they don’t negatively impact surrounding real estate values, says Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac. Bank of America, GMAC, Chase, Wells Fargo and Citi hold the highest number of vacant foreclosures.

Twenty-nine percent of the vacant foreclosed homes are priced below $50,000; 25 percent are between $50,000 to $100,000; and 12 percent are in the $1 million-plus range, according to RealtyTrac.

The states with some of the highest percentages of vacant foreclosures are:

Indiana: 32%
Oregon: 28%
Nevada: 28%
Washington: 27%
Georgia: 27%

Still, “even if all these homes flooded the market simultaneously, they would likely not cause the once-feared double dip in prices given supply constraints from non-distressed sellers and stronger demand,” Blomquist says.”

Source: “RealtyTrac: 20% of Foreclosures Remain Vacant After Owner Departs,” HousingWire (June 20, 2013)

A very good article and more pictures of what some people do when they leave their home due to foreclosure click here
Please help to keep this blog going
Let us Sell or help you buy your new home or land

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John

DRE#00669941

Real Estate

Large Number of Foreclose Homes Are Vacant

June 21, 2013 jd

Is anyone home? Apparently not in a large share of foreclosed homes. Twenty percent of foreclosures nationwide are abandoned by their owners and left vacant, according to RealtyTrac.

Twenty-nine percent of the vacant foreclosed homes are priced below $50,000; 25 percent are between $50,000 to $100,000; and 12 percent are in the $1 million-plus range, according to RealtyTrac.

The states with some of the highest percentages of vacant foreclosures are:

Indiana: 32%
Oregon: 28%
Nevada: 28%
Washington: 27%
Georgia: 27%

Source: “RealtyTrac: 20% of Foreclosures Remain Vacant After Owner Departs,” HousingWire (June 20, 2013)

Please help to keep this blog going
Let me sell or help you buy your new home or land

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John

DRE#00669941

Real Estate

Foreclosure Activity Back on the Rise

June 15, 2013 jd

Foreclosure filings—which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions—increased 2 percent in May, rising from a 75-month low in April, according to the latest foreclosure report from RealtyTrac. Still, foreclosure filings are down 28 percent from a year ago.

The May increase was largely attributed to an 11 percent increase in bank repossessions. Foreclosure starts also ticked up 4 percent in May over last month, with 26 states posting increases, according to the report.

“Foreclosure activity continued to bounce back in some markets where it may have appeared the foreclosure problem had been knocked out by an aggressive combination of foreclosure prevention efforts over the past two years,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Places like Nevada, where foreclosure starts increased to a 20-month high, and Maryland, where overall foreclosure activity increased to a 33-month high. Still, the emerging housing recovery has strengthened most local markets enough to quickly shake off a few more blows from these nagging foreclosures.”

The top foreclosure rates in the country were in Florida, Nevada, and Ohio. Florida saw a 20 percent increase in foreclosure activity in May, accelerating it to the highest foreclosure rate in the country for the month. One in every 302 Florida households received a foreclosure filing in May—nearly triple the national average.

After 27 months of decreases, Nevada foreclosure activity rose in May, with one in every 305 households receiving a foreclosure filing. The increase was driven by an 81 percent year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts, which reached a 20-month high in May, RealtyTrac reports.

Ohio posted the third-highest foreclosure rate in the country, where one in every 584 households received a foreclosure filing during May. Still, that’s a 27 percent decrease from a 31-month high the state reached in April.

Source: RealtyTrac

Where Zombie Foreclosures Are Highest

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles