Where the SF Bay Area heading in foreclosure perspective?
In the 9-county SF Bay Area housing market, the number of new foreclosure filings is coming down consecutively for the last few months. Different interpretations are being offered by market analysts, as to the direction the foreclosure trend is heading, as far as SF Bay Area is concerned.
The latest foreclosure activity report, pertaining to the first half year of 2010, released by Realtytrac says there will be near about 1 million foreclosures hitting the U.S. housing markets this year. This is based on the anticipation that the ARM mortgages of 2006 will be resetting towards the year end, paving way for more number of delinquencies.
California continues to be in the top 10 list of States worst-hit by foreclosure epidemic – in the 4th rank, consistently for the last few months. 2.54 percent of California homes went into foreclosure during the half year – numbering 340,740 properties. This is the highest total of all the States of U.S. country. However, in comparison, the foreclosure filings have dropped by 15 percent from that of the second half year of 2009, and by 13 percent from the first half of last year.
As far as SF Bay Area is concerned, new foreclosure filings are down by 41 percent in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year. This trend is also visible in Alameda County, where the number is down by 51 percent and in Contra Costa County by 44 percent.
Market analysts differ in their opinion – while some of them say it indicates that the SF Bay Area housing market is on the path of recovery, some others are not ready to accept this, since lending banks are holding back another bundle of foreclosed properties, with a view to stop the home prices falling again.
Another point of interest to support this theory is – there is growing number of re-defaults by home owners, even after loan modification and adjustment of repayment installments.
On the other hand, lending banks are adopting a strategy of wait and see – instead of rushing to expensive foreclosure route – they are giving more time for the home owners with the hope of retrieving their capital, by extending trial modifications to the distressed borrower-home owners.
Posted by Amitesh Kumar
on Jul 23 2010. Filed under Foreclosures, Lending.
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