RealtyStore Foreclosure Blog

Santa Barbara, CA June 23, 2008 — RealtyStore (www.realtystore.com) recorded nearly 16,500 Notices of Default (NOD’s) in northern Illinois counties for Q1 in 2008. An NOD is filed by the lending institution, when a homeowner falls behind on mortgage payments. NOD’s provide important information about which home owners have home loans they cannot afford.

A sample of 10 northern counties (Champaign, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Rock Island, and Winnebago) shows a 45% increase in NOD’s since January 1, 2007. DuPage County, spanning approximately 352,000 homes and housing nearly 0.31% of the U.S. population, saw a 77% increase in NOD’s. Lake County also saw a drastic foreclosure hike of 78%. Between the two counties, Lake County was impacted most drastically, as more than half of its NOD’s occurred during the last six months (October 2007 through March 2008). Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States (over 5.2 million people), fared far better, with a 37% increase from Q1 2007 and an 11% increase in six months.

Two northern counties experienced a decrease in NOD’s during the past six months, though the decrease was minor. Champaign County saw a 4% drop in foreclosure filings. The other, small County of DeKalb has few NOD’s compared to other northern counties, so a 5% decrease in foreclosure in that area can be a difference of one home owner clearing the default. At a glance from Q1 2007 to Q1 2008, both counties continue to experience a rise in pre-foreclosure property.

Overall, northern Illinois has seen its NOD rate almost double in the last 15 months. “As the U.S. economy continues to deteriorate, the latest wave of ARM’s (adjustable rate mortgages) combined with rising unemployment, inflated oil prices, and the falling value of the U.S. Dollar, it is plausible that the foreclosure problem will continue to get worse,” stated Tim Chin, RealtyStore CEO. “If you are thinking about buying foreclosure property, I always recommend working with an experienced real estate professional for advice on whether to buy now or wait on the sidelines a little longer.”

About RealtyStore.com: Founded in 2005, RealtyStore.com is the fastest growing, most trusted provider of foreclosure listings and information in the nation with over 1 million pre-foreclosure, foreclosure auction, bank-owned, and tax sale property listings. Collected from hundreds of public and private sources, RealtyStore’s proprietary database includes extensive property characteristics (including pictures and maps), default and tax information, comparable home values, and neighborhood demographics information. For more information, visit http://www.realtystore.com

Santa Barbara, CA June 5, 2008 — RealtyStore (www.realtystore.com), the nation’s leading provider of foreclosure listings, released its quarterly Arizona Foreclosure Report.

Declining home values, mounting inventory and slowing residential construction have led to skyrocketing foreclosure rates in Arizona. For Q1 2008, 1 out of every 80 Arizona households received an auction notice, almost 3 times the national average. RealtyStore.com recorded 23,607 auction notices statewide for Q1 2008, representing a 46% increase from Q4 2007 and a 304% jump over Q1 2007. An auction notice, also known as a Notice of Trustee Sale (NTS) or Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NFS), is filed by the lending institution when a homeowner fails to cure their default. This is the second stage of foreclosure where the lender formally records its intent to sell the property through a public auction.

“Over the past two years, Phoenix home values have dropped 25% while foreclosures have increased six-fold. For-sale signs and vacant storefronts are a common sight,” said Tim Chin, CEO of RealtyStore. “Stimulus plans proposed by Congress will not outpace the damage caused by plummeting home values in an economy heavily reliant on residential growth. Arizona housing prices will continue to slide through 2008 and will only begin to stabilize during the second half of 2009.”

Maricopa County, the nation’s 4th most populous county and home to Arizona’s largest city and capital Phoenix, started off the first quarter with 17,214 auction notices. This was a 350% spike from the auction notices recorded in Q1 of last year. With over $600 billion worth of ARMs due to reset this year, many Arizona homeowners will find their payments soaring by as much as 100%. Distressed borrowers unable to cope with payment increases will enter the foreclosure process at an increasing rate. Home values will be further suppressed by the glut of bargain-priced foreclosures flooding the Arizona home sale market. Unfortunately, the bottom of the Arizona housing market is yet to come; as more and more homeowners are simply walking away from homes that are now worth less than what they owe to the bank.

RealtyStore (www.realtystore.com), the nation’s leading provider of foreclosure listings, released its quarterly Arizona Foreclosure Report. Auction notices in Arizona have jumped 304% since Q1 2007 due to declining home values and residential construction activity. Many homeowners are simply walking away from their homes that are now worth less than what they owe to the bank.

RealtyStore (www.realtystore.com), the nation’s leading provider of foreclosure listings, released its quarterly Nevada Foreclosure Report.

RealtyStore.com recorded 17,307 notices of default (NODs) statewide for Q1 2008. This was a 32% increase from those recorded in Q4 2007 and a 139% jump over Q1 2007. An NOD is filed by the lending institution, when a homeowner falls behind on mortgage payments. NODs provide important information about which homeowners have home loans they cannot afford. Nevada has maintained the nation’s highest foreclosure rate for nearly two straight years. For Q1 2008, 1 out of every 52 households in Nevada received a default notice, which is more than 7 times the national average.

“For almost two years running, Nevada has been plagued with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. This is a result of the dramatic increase in speculative building starting in 2004 when home prices soared 47%,” said Tim Chin, CEO of RealtyStore. “Now, as the housing market corrects, investors are running for the hills as inventory mounts and prices rapidly decline.”

More than 90% of the foreclosures in Nevada are occurring in Clark County. Clark County, home of the gaming capital, better known as Las Vegas, started off the first quarter with 15,876 defaults. This was more than double the 6,651 default notices for Q1 of last year. The foreclosure problem in Las Vegas resulted from home buyers gambling on prices continuing to climb. Speculators used adjustable-rate-mortgages (ARMs) and sub-prime loans to get their foot in the door hoping to use the home’s projected appreciation to later refinance under more affordable fixed-rate loans. Unfortunately, the tide turned and Nevada’s housing market has crumbled.

With a huge wave of hybrid ARMs due to reset this spring, many Nevada homeowners will find their payments ballooning by as much as 50%. With property values dropping almost 20% since last year, distressed borrowers will have little opportunity to refinance into more affordable loans. Left to drown in their mortgage payments, an increasing percentage of homeowners will enter the foreclosure process. This will further suppress housing prices as bargain-priced foreclosures take a bigger share of the Nevada home sale market. In Las Vegas, nearly half of all homes currently on the market are foreclosures. With inventory increasing and home sales at their lowest levels in 13 years, the Nevada housing market will get worse before it gets better.

About RealtyStore.com: Founded in 2005, RealtyStore.com is the fastest growing, most trusted provider of foreclosure listings and information in the nation with over 1 million pre-foreclosure, foreclosure auction, bank-owned, and tax sale property listings. Collected from hundreds of public and private sources, RealtyStore’s proprietary database includes extensive property characteristics (including pictures and maps), default and tax information, comparable home values, and neighborhood demographics information. For more information, visit http://www.realtystore.com.

Foreclosure flood: 1,000 auctions per day in California

LA Times reports in April there were one thousand home auctions per day in California. “California’s foreclosure crisis passed another ominous milestone in April, when more than 1,000 foreclosed homes were auctioned off every weekday at courthouses across the state”.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/05/foreclosure-flo.html

According to our California Foreclosure Report, California’s foreclosure activity has increased 38% in the first quarter of 2008. Our California foreclosure statistics is broken by county and shows the change from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008.

Q1 2008 California Foreclosure Statistics