Repo Home Listings Up in June

Posted on July 13th, 2009 in Repo Homes

Market data showed that the number of short sales on repo home listings jumped by almost 55 percent in June, from 38 percent. The figures caused alarm on some industry experts who predicted that as many as 10,000 units will soon enter the foreclosure market.

But the U.S. Foreclosure Index for the second quarter showed a drop in the number of properties on repo home listings. Foreclosures dropped 11 percent to 205,301 from the first quarter of 2009. Industry experts are not sure what triggered the nationwide foreclosure decline last month, whether it is because of the moratorium, the government bailout or the loan modification program of the Obama Administration.

But in Clark County, California, the foreclosure numbers were less upbeat as they rose to 2,686 last month compared with 2,397 in May. Last month?s figures were also below previous June?s foreclosures when 2,867 properties were on repo home listings.

Meanwhile, June preforeclosure filings, including notices of default and foreclosure auction, declined drastically to 5,443 from the peak of 8,107 the previous month. The figures were higher from the 5,103 posted the same month last year.

For the first half of this year, the total foreclosure in Clark County jumped to a whopping 23,588 from last year?s 12,800. Furthermore, preforeclosures also rose by 34.8 percent or 47,467 units from last year?s 30,922.

Meanwhile, nationwide data showed that preforeclosures dropped by 10 percent from April to June to 494,078, with Midwest showing the largest decline by 42 percent.

However, some industry experts caution against reading too much from the foreclosure declines posted in the second quarter. They said that the current trend is just a temporary lag, citing the 10,000 to 20,000 distressed properties that banks have been intentionally holding off the market. The number of REO homes in all property listings dropped from 51 percent in January to about 39 percent in June.

But what really bothers some industry experts was the increase in the number of short sale deals. Some experts find the trend disturbing considering the deteriorating employment market and poor performance of economic indicators.

They warned that the foreclosure problem is far from over as banks are expected to unload their inventory of REO properties on repo home listings.

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