New Foreclosure Inventory in U.S. Rises Nearly Fifty Percent in March

[UpInArms]

http://rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/9944/1/1/

RISMEDIA, April 7 – Some 28,190 new foreclosed residential properties were listed for sale in the U.S. during March 2005, reports Foreclosure.com.

The number represents an increase of 50 percent from February 2005. The total number of U.S. residential foreclosure properties available for sale in the U.S. during the month of March was 80,757, an increase of 10 percent from February.

"New foreclosure inventory rose in 47 states in March. This signifies a national trend in foreclosure inventory and can likely be attributed to the rise in interest rates during the latter half of 2004, and a slowdown in the trend of rising home values in the fourth quarter of 2004," said Brad Geisen, president and CEO, Foreclosure.com. "Foreclosures are most prevalent in areas of the country where home values are not rising, such as Ohio, Texas, South Carolina and Michigan. However, if the combination of rising interest rates and dropping home values continues, foreclosure inventory will likely continue to rise across the country."

...more with listing from all states...

[Ilsa]

1. What an opportunity!!!!

Yes, Bushco is taking care of us!!! Just like Cheney said we could make a fortune selling shit on EBay, we can all start investing in foreclosed properties with all the money we all have to invest. We can hold the properties or rent them out and watch their values increase, like the good old days. (Uh-huh.)

Oh wait. I don't have any money to invest.

Nevermind.

[salin]

2. I have to admit...

that for the first time in my life - I had the money to buy my first house... and I started by looking through foreclosure.com that was one step to find a realator who specialized in foreclosures - both overpriced homes (where they made their money) and on moderately priced homes (where I fit - I didn't think I would find a realator wanting to work for me, wanting to buy a very affordable home rather than a home that I could maybe fit into my current monthly budget (what, sadly, many buyers do these days...)

Other than fessing up, that I have benefitted from a foreclosure (though I plan to live here for a long time, this wasn't about profit, but about driving my monthly costs down - by getting a decent home in a fairly decent neighborhood, in a way that leaves me with very little debt (I had put $ aside for years for this, so I had more than a minimal downpayment.)... other than that confession - I agree with your sentiments.

The house next door just went into foreclosure. The owner, in a lower wage job, just couldn't keep up with the payments (as cost of living has gone up - food, heating, gas, etc.) while salaries at the lower tiers have NOT gone up. What was affordable several years ago on a salary- suddenly, for some, is no longer affordable. :-(

[natrat]

3. here we go

[pokercat999]

4. As gas prices increase we will find many of the poor

that are just hanging on start falling. Adding $100, $200 or $300 a month or more to the cost of just getting back and forth to work will push many over the edge. In North Central VA most poor folks commute long distances just so they can own a home now they can't own that home and get to work one or the other has to go!

[Boomer]

32. And where will they go?

The average rent in my neighborhood ($600 and up) is higher than my mortgage payment. This is a working-class neighborhood, a little on the worn side, so rents elsewhere in town are MUCH higher.

Anyone here who can't keep up with a mortgage is not going to be able to scrape together 1st and last month's rent, plus deposit. If they can't move in with relatives, they'll end up on the street.

I've been so rattled by news of the shaky economy that I liquidated enough of my savings to pay off my mortgage. So now I'm only paying the tax and insurance, and what I used to pay in mortgage will serve as a buffer for rising utility bills. I have a sinking feeling that eventually I'll need it all.

[pokercat999]

39. At some point we will either reform and move

toward socialism or we will be like Brazil with very rich and very very poor, no in-between. But I'm just a commie so don't listen to me.

[katsy]

5. What an opportunity...

Now the middle class can lose there homes and the "haves" can have more.

:grr:

[TexasLawyer]

6. Just the beginning

I'm sure this is just a hint of things to come. Given the new bankruptcy laws, inflationary pressures, lack of medical coverage, rising unemployment rate, adjustable rate mortgages, "consolidation loans" using increased home value as security, etc... there will be an abundance of forclosures.

Just watch the real estate bubble burst!

[redqueen]

16. My thoughts exactly...

wonder how long it will be before it pops. And then how long it will take to become 'newsworthy'.

[clem_c_rock]

19. It will become newsworthy when the problem bubbles up to the rich

By that time there will be 100 times that amount in poor to middle class people have had their lives devestated by forclosures and bankruptcies.

[Deja Q]

20. Worse, will the sheeple remain apathetic, kill each other, or band up

with each other and attack those controlling everything - the "haves"?

Those in power are not anticipating the attack option. And they're right. Why? Because Reagan and all have played on the selfishness aspect of our psyches; by and large we'll conform and let them trample and defecate on us all they want.

[flygal]

22. I think they intended for this to happen

There were too many years of keeping interest rates low - they let the banks get their cut on re-financing, mortaging people with their last dime, knowing the ARM's would go up out of their reach and then BAM!!! Raise the rates - up the foreclosures - swoop in - INSTA TRUMP!

These people will make a killing on rents b/c so many people will have the bad credit and no $$ for a down payment.

[Theduckno2]

7. The "Ownership Society"?

Where do all the people who were foreclosed on fit into the picture? I know, they'll be living out of their SUV that they own, but can't afford to drive due to high gas prices. I think there is a credit crisis coming which explains the recent bankruptcy legislation.

[cosmicdot]

26. living out of their SUV

I think you're right about the bankruptcy legislation.

I expect the Bu$h** Depression will be much harder for people to handle. People aren't as self-sufficient as they were in the 1930s.

I don't know how to can food. Even if I did, where am I going to grow my crops? Will Monsanto control the seed market?

The hatemongers have created a nation highly divided and hostile.

The concerns are many.

[Digit]

8. Thanks * for helping out your fellow Americans (sarcasm)

While people are losing jobs, their pensions, and their homes and with medical costs out of control, you sit in your ivory tower and proclaim the economy is getting better.
Wake up *, it is tanking and many will be sleeping in cardboard boxes.

[tabasco]

9. 50% increase in ONE MONTH ?!

Wow. I'm no expert but that seems like a hell of a jump.

[bling bling]

10. Am I missing something?

I don't get this sentence (2nd paragraph from OP):

"The number represents an increase of 50 percent from February 2005. The total number of U.S. residential foreclosure properties available for sale in the U.S. during the month of March was 80,757, an increase of 10 percent from February."

First they say increase is 50 percent, then it says 10 percent. I don't get it.

[IMayBeWrongBut]

11. looks like

That means that in February there were 18,793 *new* foreclosures and that increased by 50% to 28,190 *new* foreclosures in March. In March there were 80,757 foreclosures for sale(i.e. new foreclosures and those that hadn't sold yet from the previous months). That would mean that in February there were 73,415 foreclosures on the market at some point during that month.

Or at least that's how I read it. :)

[DeepModem Mom]

12. kick

[Robb]

13. With all the press RE and REITs have been getting lately...

...everywhere I turn, some analyst is saying people are getting out of the stock market and into real estate and real estate investment trusts.

Could it be something so simple as an increase in market volume? Or are we not so lucky? :shrug:


- Robb, who knows as little about the subject as can be possible

[hatrack]

14. Repeat after me: "The economy is strong, and getting stronger"

:puke:

[TexasLawyer]

15. kick n/t

[earth mom]

17. This makes me sad and scared.

We've lived on the edge for years, and it's just recently gotten better...though DH and I don't feel secure by any means. It could happen to ANY of us...

There but for the grace of ___ go I. :cry: :scared:

[w8liftinglady]

18. 4 people I know...

...including me...are being foreclosed this or next month.Luckily,I have a place to go.I feel for all of us.I tried hard to make it after my divorce.I'm lucky-I have an adequate job,and will be back on my feet again.Not so,my two friends who work for the airlines.:hurts:

[SoCalDem]

24. Welcome to DU, even if it's such a sad occasion to post this

My friend will lose her house this year.. Her %^$#@* "boyfriend" has managed to convince her to use HER house as an ATM, and the "loan" they got last is an INTEREST ONLY 2 yr loan with a balloon due at the end of 05..:(

[progressoid]

21. It's Bush's 'ownership society'

woohoo

[satya]

23. At least now China, Japan & the Saudis have someplace to put all that cash

they had in those "worthless" (per the Chimperor) T-Bills...

Seriously, though, my heart goes out to the victims of *'s economic idiocy and the laws that permit predatory lending practices...

[natrat]

25. grapes of wrath-*ush style

[coda]

27. Listings of foreclosed properties have soared (# spiked Feb/March)

Fri, Apr. 08, 2005

Listings of foreclosed properties have soared

The number spiked between February and March. Is the housing market losing its footing?

BY JANET MORRISSEY

Dow Jones Newswires

NEW YORK - In what could be a crack in the housing market's sturdy foundation, the number of foreclosed homes put up for sale rose 50 percent between February and March, according to a new study by Foreclosure.com.

<snip>

The survey, released Wednesday, showed 28,190 foreclosed homes were put up for sale across the country in March, which is 50 percent more than in February.

<snip>

The surge in the number of homebuyers opting for adjustable-rate mortgages over the past few quarters could pose a problem for homeowners as interest rates tick up. "We're starting to see repercussions because of that," Houston said.

Indeed, the markets seeing the largest number of foreclosed properties are those whose home values have stopped rising, such as Ohio, Texas, South Carolina and Michigan.

<snip>

Fitch Ratings analyst Bob Curran expressed surprise at the increase reported by the study. However, he noted that foreclosed properties still represent a very small percentage of the overall housing inventory, which totaled 2.8 million homes in February. He doesn't see the foreclosure numbers as reason for alarm.


more.....


http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/business/11339481.htm

[tanyev]

28. There it is.

Fitch Ratings analyst Bob Curran expressed surprise

Everytime I see a headline like this, I quickly scan the article for words like "unexpected", "against all expectations", etc. It's always there.

[havocmom]

29. More ads for bill consolidation for home owners = more folks in $ trouble

Taking out home equity loans at such times = lots of homes going to holders of loans. The ownership society plan is working. Credit cards companies marketed for years to people who really shouldn't have been given a lot of debt. Now the push is to market to those people to tie up their homes.

I see a lot of encampments instead of homes for American families in the not so distant future.

[NNN0LHI]

30. I have been watching a house in a decent neighborhood for a few weeks now

They have a big huge blue tarpaulin covering their roof. My guess is their roof started leaking and they can't afford to have one put on? I am sure this one will be owned by a bank real soon. But our economy is "robust".

Don

[KansDem]

34. How long before the city cites the homeowners for a codes violation

No doubt having a tarpaulin covering your house is a municipal "no-no." So now while the homeowner(s) are battling it out with re-roofing costs, they will have to duke it out with the city as well.

It just keeps piling on and on until something snaps...

[NNN0LHI]

35. I am sure their neighbors have been calling the city to complain

It won't be long until the shit hits the fan.

Don

[NNN0LHI]

37. Posted wrong place. Deleted by poster

[spinbaby]

40. Could just be a delay in getting a contractor

I know where we live, we'd be hard pressed to get a decent contractor without at least a three-month wait. They're all booked up.

[NNN0LHI]

44. If my roof started leaking tonight I could easily have 5 or more...

...contracors here tomorrow morning giving estimates for a new roof. And the complete roofing job including the tear off of the old roof would be be finished by mid afternoon on Monday. If I had the money.

Don

[Vinca]

31. My husband's business, which is related to real estate sales

and refinancing, has tanked over the last few months. He's been doing the same thing for over 20 years and we've experienced up and down cycles before, but never like this. I've got a feeling the economy of this country is at the edge of a cliff and is about to go down fast.

[anarchy1999]

33. You think?

Welcome to DU, sorry you got here so late in the game. Edge of a cliff......ummmm, down fast......ummmm.

Just pay attention to the funerals, okay, oh yeah, and the wedding.

See you at the bottom.

[ernstbass]

36. Haven't heard much about this in MSM

[NNN0LHI]

38. Anyone ever hear the "man of the people" Lou Dobbs bring this up?"

He is too busy telling us to watch out for them funny talking brown people from south of the border. That fits right into the average racist's little pea brain. Them knuckledraggers just eat that shit up.

Don

[Supersedeas]

41. so much for the ownership society, heh?

[AuntiBush]

42. And after everyone files Bankrupcty w/no expunged records...

who'll be left to buy their foreclosed homes? Greed made haste... they've tied noose around their own necks in the long run.

[cosmicdot]

43. "Americans are unaware of the difficult adjustments ...

... that are coming their way." ... and, that's from a former Ray-gun Admin. official ...



April 04, 2005

Job Drought Continues
By Paul Craig Roberts

In March the US economy created a paltry 111,000 private sector jobs, half the expected amount. Following a well-established pattern, US job growth was concentrated in domestic services: waitresses and bartenders, construction, administrative and waste services, and health care and social assistance.

In the 21st century the US economy has ceased to create jobs in knowledge industries or information technology (IT). It has been a long time since any jobs were created in export and import-competitive sectors.

~snip~

A country that permits its manufacturing and its technical and scientific professions to wither away is a country on a path to the Third World. The mark of a Third World country is a labor force employed in domestic services.

~snip~

American chemists cannot give up 80% of their pay to meet the competition and still pay their bills. Rising interest rates will make it difficult enough for Americans to make their mortgage payments, and the dollar’s declining exchange value will raise the prices of the goods and services that have been moved offshore.

Americans are unaware of the difficult adjustments that are coming their way. By the time Americans catch on to outsourcing, its proponents will have changed its name to "strategic sourcing" or "partnering."


*********

Paul Craig Roberts, a former Reagan Administration official, is the author of The Supply-Side Revolution and, with Lawrence M. Stratton, of The Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice.

http://www.vdare.com/roberts/050404_drought.htm