Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Foreclosure sales have declined in the US as compared to five years ago, according to a recent real estate data released by HOPE NOW. The private sector company that represents an alliance of investors, mortgage servicers, and insurers released August data this Wednesday showing that there were about 27,000 foreclosures in that month. This is the lowest recorded foreclosure sales since the company started collecting data around nine years ago.
August foreclosure sale figures this year represent nearly one third of the sales made during the same month in 2010. In that month, there were nearly 100,000 foreclosure sales in the US. In addition, the real estate data showed that there was a 77 percent decline in foreclosure starts during the month of August as compared to same moth five years earlier. Moreover, mortgages that were delinquent for 60 days or above had nearly halved during the month of August in comparison to August 2010.
According to HOPE NOW Executive Director, Eric Selk, the latest data released by the company shows that the real estate health has improved significantly as compared to five years ago. The foreclosure metrics have decreased by more than half since 2010 when the market was recovering from one of the most severe real estate crises that hit the US.
The delinquency metrics is returning to their normal levels that represents a recovery in the real estate market. Florida, which had the highest foreclosure sales in the US, has seen a decline in year-to-date decrease in delinquency rates. The foreclosure starts also decreased by about 28% in the state as compared to last year. Similarly, foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions decreased by 46% and 34% in Florida as compared to last year.
That being said, the foreclosure rates in Florida is still the worst the US. Figures released by RealtyTrac shows that around one in every 186 real estate properties in the state had a foreclosure closing during the quarter.
Meanwhile, non-foreclosure solutions in the US that includes a combination of deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, loan modifications, and other workout plans were four times the number of foreclosure sale during the month of August.
There were about 118,000 non-foreclosure solutions during the month of which about 33,000 were permanent loan adjustments. These permanent loan adjustments included Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and proprietary programs. About 9,500 of the loan modification were completed through HAMP while nearly 27,000 were completed through proprietary programs.
On the whole, the real estate sector has recovered significantly as compared to the past five years. Both foreclosure sales and starts have declined considerably which points to the fact that the industry in on a fast track route to recovery.
There has been good progress in the real estate front in the US with investors snapping up real estate deals to hold for the long term. HOPE NOW's recent real state stats shows that the real estate market is now entering in a boom period. And the good news is that the uptick in real estate property values isn’t the result of a speculative bubble, but due to solid real estate investment.
