Ohio Foreclosure Listings Push Down Home Prices

Posted on March 23rd, 2009 in Ohio by Mary

The case of a retired Ohio professor unable to sell his house after over two years of competing with foreclosure listings indicates how low the Ohio housing market has gone down because of continued Ohio foreclosures.

Based on a report by the Ohio Association of Realtors, home sales in January in Ohio has gone down by 21.3 percent to 3,527 units from total sales of 4,482 units in January 2008. Because of thousands of homes in foreclosure listings, the average home sale price for January has gone down to $115,326, a decrease of 11.9 percent from the average sale price in January 2008.

Similarly, the housing market in Mansfield has been battered by foreclosure listings, with only 72 units sold in January. This represented an 8.9 percent drop from total sales in January 2008. The average sale price was $66,765, a drastic 21.5 percent fall from the average price in January 2008.

Ralph Hunt, the professor who has retired from full-time teaching at the Ohio State University in Mansfield, has been selling his Tudor-style two-story home for around $170,000. He bought the house seven years ago for about $129,000.

Thinking that he can sell immediately his Mansfield house, he bought a new house near Akron where he planned to retire. But the lack of people moving to Mansfield has frustrated his plan. Most prospective buyers living around Mansfield can not proceed with their house purchase plans because they could not sell their own houses.

Like what housing analysts have been witnessing across the country, the professor and the prospective buyers have been caught in the swirl of rapidly growing foreclosure listings. Don Mitchell, director of Mansfield-Richland County Fair Housing, said foreclosure listings have not only pushed down home prices, they also have left homes and yards in disrepair, further pushing down home prices.

Since Hunt was unable to sell his Mansfield house after he bought a new house, he has had to struggle month after month to pay two monthly amortizations. This week, after more than two years of waiting and competing with foreclosure listings, his agent told him he has found a buyer. But Hunt may have to throw out any thought of gains from the house he maintained for more than seven years. His agent says the buyer is willing to shell out only around $125,000 for his house, more than $40,000 below his original listing price.

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Ohio Foreclosure Listings – Awaited Help Finally Arriving

Posted on September 10th, 2008 in Ohio by Alana

The housing bill passed by President Bush is viewed in different light by different sets of people. Critics say that with the number of loans that were passed by either negligent or greedy lenders in the past, the reversal of the foreclosure crisis will need more than what the bill has to offer. Supporters of the bill though view it as a blessing, considering the disbursement of funds and new programs that the bill encompasses. With the bill in place, Ohio foreclosure listings could very well see a decrease.

Cleveland, Ohio

Ohio is set to receive a considerable part of the $180 million that has been ear-marked for providing counseling for pre-foreclosures. In order to try and nip the problem in the bud, the bill is to help people in refinancing their loans along with information on how foreclosures could be avoided.

Close to 400,000 people facing foreclosures will receive aid in the form of a $300 billion FHA program. Home owners facing problems with their sub-prime loans having high interest rates could refinance their homes though this program. The income of households though will come into play, because the mortgage payments would need to be less than or equal to 31% of the income, in order for the borrower to qualify.

For someone looking at buying their first home an interest free tax credit of up to $7,500 (considering the home’s cost) has also been provided as part of the bill. This would apply to homes that are bought in between 04/09/2007 and 07/01/2009, and would have a repayment time period of fifteen years.

Ohio, thanks to the bill, can now increase issuing tax free bonds in the next two years by $376 million. The Ohio Housing Financing Agency which helps borrowers with low incomes to buy their first home by providing them with loans with low interests will also benefit from the money.

Of the money put aside for local communities to fight foreclosures, close to $150 million is likely to reach Ohio, with help to be provided to people who are part of the Ohio foreclosure listings.

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