Bay Area Short Sale Center » Foreclosures

Marin County foreclosures drop 25%

Istvan Fekete — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:00:47 +0000

Marin County foreclosures dropped 25% in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to a year prior. The numbers made public by DataQuick tracking firm from San Diego show that during the 98 day period 96 Marin County properties were foreclosed on, 33 properties less than the 129 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Other numbers highlighted by the DataQuick report are: Marin County recorded 503 foreclosures for 2011, down slightly from the 511 foreclosures recorded a year prior.

Lenders issued 263 notices of default in the fourth quarter of 2011, down from 275 notices issued a year prior.

Looking at the statewide picture, a total of 31,260 Californian homeowners were foreclosed on during the fourth quarter of 2011, which means a 12% drop than a year ago. Throughout the state 61,517 homeowners received notices of default, 12% fewer than in the same period in 2010.

“We are certainly seeing a lower level of foreclosure activity than a year or two ago,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president. “The question is, how much of that decline is due to market conditions, and how much is due to policy changes that try to address economic distress and lower home values.

“Five years ago almost all mortgage payment delinquencies would have triggered a default notice after a certain amount of time,” Walsh said. “Strategies now include short sales, refinances, interest rate changes, principal reduction as well as just plain waiting longer.”

Bay Area foreclosures drop sharply

Istvan Fekete — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:32:56 +0000

The San Francisco Bay Area has joined the line of the states with dropping foreclosure filings. Although the reason behind the drop can be the holiday foreclosure seizure, it is still encouraging.

RealtyTrac released its monthly report and annual look-back recently, covering the nine-county Bay Area housing market. According to the press release, RealtyTrac believes that rising number of short sales and the robo-signing scandal are the main factors behind the decline of foreclosure filings.

The numbers are the following: Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Mateo county foreclosure dropped 20% from 2010, while in the whole state of California dropped 21% and nationwide 34%.

Santa Clara County reported 1,234 foreclosures for December, a 38% decline from November’s 2,012 foreclosures and down 27% from the 1,691 foreclosures in December 2010.

Last year, Contra Costa County had the highest rate of foreclosures in the South Bay and East Bay, with slightly more than 4% of all homes, or one in every 24. San Mateo County had the lowest rate of foreclosures – one in every 60 homes, or about 1.7%. In Alameda County, 2.7% of all homes had some kind of foreclosure action in 2011, while less than 2% of Santa Clara County homeowners were affected, the Contra Costa Times writes.

Fremont woman sentenced for 5 years for foreclosure scam

Istvan Fekete — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:29:53 +0000

A Fremont woman convicted of a foreclosure scam that targeted immigrant homeowners was sentenced to 5 years in prison Wednesday, Kamala Harris, California State Attorney General said.

The name of the woman is Angeline Lisa Lizzarango, she is 69 years old and she was convicted of felony fraud and theft in connection with 11 scams committed at her Fremont business, Avemos Financial Group, the California AG said in a statement.

Furthermore, she was ordered to pay $31,000 to nine victims and a restitution hearing for two other cases is scheduled for Feburary.

“Lizarrago and her business associate, Michael Douglas Young, a 68-year-old Los Gatos man, received thousands of dollars from struggling homeowners after promising services that would save their homes,” prosecutors said. But the help never came, neither the refund.

According to the authorities, Lizzarago promised customers she would prevent banks from foreclosing on their homes and renegotiate their monthly loans. In case of unsuccessful negotiations, she promised a total refund, but none of the promises was kept, do their client’s house went into foreclosures.

Lizarrago, who has a prior felony conviction for grand theft, was on bail at the time from Madera County, where she was charged by authorities in an alleged real estate scam.

Bay Area delinquency notices are up

Istvan Fekete — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:11:18 +0000

October brought thousands of delinquency notes in the Bay Area, as lenders found their way through a backlog of distressed mortgages that began building a year ago, at least according to RealtyTrac’s latest report.

“We are definitely seeing signs that lenders are ramping back up,” said Daren Blomquist, of RealtyTrac. “Delinquency notices are sent to homeowners who are behind three months or more, but these homeowners actually have been delinquent for a year or more” he added. “A lot of these are delayed or deferred foreclosure that under normal circumstances we would have seen earlier this year. But because of delays, many have not been making their payments for more than a year.”

RealtyTrac reported nearly 3,500 default notices sent to homeowners in distress in Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, which means a 10% increase since September but 7% compared to September a year prior.

Default notices were up 14% in Contra Costa County and 18% in Santa Clara County, and almost unchanged in Alameda County. The only drop was recorded in San Mateo County.

Total foreclosure activity, including notices of trustee sale and bank-seized property, dropped 8.5 percent from a year ago but was little changed from September in the four counties.

Napa Valley foreclosures are down

Istvan Fekete — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:00:12 +0000

Napa County recorded 263 notices of default the third quarter, compared to 222 in the same period the year prior, according to DataQuick’s recent report. The 18.5% jump makes the highest percentage increase in the nine Bay Area counties. On the other side, the number of Napa County homes or condos completing foreclosure dropped 13%, from 131 to 114, on a quarter-over-quarter basis.

DataQuick monthly report analyzing the state’s larger counties shows Marin as the least likely to go into default, besides San Francisco and San Mateo counties. On the other side of the coin, the Sacramento, Madera and Stanislaus counties are likely to go into default. Trustees Deeds recorded statewide totaled 38,895 during the third quarter. This show a slight, 8.4% drop from the second quarter, and a 14.3% drop on year-over-year basis. The all-time peak was 79,511 in third-quarter 2008. The state’s all-time low was 637 in the second quarter of 2005.

There are 8.7 million houses and condos in the state.

Foreclosures accounted for 34.2% of the state’s resale activity during the third quarter while short sales accounted an estimated 17.8%.

During the July to September period investors purchased an estimated 29.7% of the foreclosed properties. This shows a significant 28.3% rise from the previous quarter and up from 22.7% a year earlier, DataQuick underscores.

Solano County ranks second on the list of US foreclosures

Istvan Fekete — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:16:34 +0000

Solano County records the nation’s second-highest foreclosure rate in the third quarter, a recent report issued by RealtyTrac reveals. Moreover, the are has been in the top three for foreclosures for about five years now, the research company experts say.
However, the most recent report shows California cities ranking 15 of the top 25 metro-area foreclosure rates. The list is led by the Vallejo-Fairfield area, where one in every 51 housing units in some stage of foreclosure during the third quarter. Close behind is Stockton with one in every 52 housing units in the same situation while Modesto ranked third with one in every 53 housing units with a foreclosure filing during the same time period. With one in 56 housing units in foreclosure Riverside-San Bernardino ranked fifth.
“While foreclosure activity in September and the third quarter continued to register well below levels from a year ago, there is evidence that this temporary downward trend is about to change direction, with foreclosure activity slowly beginning to ramp back up,” RealtyTrac chief executive officer James Saccacio said.
Local Realtor Linda Cook also predicts an increase.
“Foreclosures are down but there hasn’t been a rise in the number of short sales, which you would expect, since I don’t think fewer people are losing their homes,” she said. “But, honestly, there’s really no rhyme or reason to this market. We are absolutely not out of the woods yet. We’ve got another couple years of this mess.”

Silicon Valley foreclosures inching high

Istvan Fekete — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:00:18 +0000

Silicon Valley has recorded a significant increase in home foreclosure postings in July to August, a sign that banks resume their foreclosure proceedings. However, this will be confirmed if the upcoming monthly statistics will show the same trend in foreclosures.
In Santa Clara County, 742 homeowners received a notice of default, a 25% rise from July and a 19% jump from a year ago, RealtyTrac reported. In San Mateo County, 233 property owners received a notice of default, a 2% increase from July, but a 29% decrease from 2010.
“It’s a sign that the lenders are continuing to push some of the delayed foreclosures that have been building up over the last 10 months,” said Daren Blomquist, manager of communications and marketing for RealtyTrac.com. The buildup occurred when banks halted many foreclosures because of charges that their employees had failed to properly handle loan paperwork, dubbed the “robo-signing” scandal due to the fact that some employees signed thousands of documents without examining them properly.
However, when compared to East Bay these numbers become low. Alameda County recorded a 50% increase from July and 29% jump from a year prior, while in Contra Costa COunty there is a 35% increase from July, but only 9% rise from a year ago.
“This is basically catch-up,” said Mark Hanson, head of Menlo Park-based Field Check Group, an independent real estate research. “Notice of defaults should have never been dragged so low.”
However, Blomquist pointed out, that the rise of foreclosures will help the overall housing market in clearing out inventory that otherwise keep home prices low.

San Francisco Bay Area home prices down

Istvan Fekete — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:52:56 +0000

August was the month of positive numbers when it comes to home sales, as the statistics show a 9.1% rise. However, the jump in home sales doesn’t necessary mean that home prices will go up too, as DataQuick’s recent report highlights.
According to the DataQuick report the nine-county Bay Area totaled 7,513 new and resale houses and condominium transactions during August. But the median price paid for these homes was $370,000, which is a $4,000 drop from July and a significant $15,000 decline compared to August 2010. The median price for homes sold in August 2011 was the lowest for the Bay Area since April, when it hardly reached $360,000, DataQuick noted.
“The sliver of positive news is that, no matter how you look at it, last month’s sales beat the year-ago numbers, which were pretty lousy,” DataQuick President John Walsh said in a statement.
Foreclosures accounted 26.4% of all resales, while short sales made up 18.6% of the resale market. Absentee buyers, mostly investors, bought 21.3 percent of all Bay Area homes sold, according to DataQuick.
These stats reveal that foreclosure activity is still high in the area, although below peak levels. However, DataQuick statistics indicate that the foreclosure pipeline might be filing again, as mortgage default notices increased from July.

Banks prefer cash not a loan

Istvan Fekete — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:24:47 +0000

The case of Jack and Donna Pfister pictures what is happening these days in the Bay Area housing market.
The couple got good news about their bid topping all others on a foreclosure in Vacaville, so they started making preparations for moving in. But several days after the good news, the were told the bank decided to go with an all-cash buyer. The top of the bad news was that the investor’s offer was $25,000 less than the $475,000 offered by Pfisters.
And this isn’t an isolated case in San Francisco Bay Area. According to DataQuick’s latest report, more than 20% of all homes sold in July were purchased by absentee buyers, mostly investors looking for rentals or properties to fix up and sell. About six out of 10 absentee buyer transactions (which can also involve second-home purchase) were all-cash purchases. In July 2010, absentee buyers accounted for 17.4 percent of home sales, and the average for all months since 2000 is 13.8%.
Now it is becoming obvious the banks – who claim to have all the money – prefer all-cash buyers because these deals close faster than a transaction involving a loan.
“The investor has the cash wherewithal to be able to close on the property without the risk of the seller worrying about whether the buyer can get the loan or not,” said Mike Sibilia, another South Bay broker with Keller Williams.

The priciest foreclosure in Laguna Beach

Istvan Fekete — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 15:00:19 +0000

One of the priciest foreclosures in the country is located in Laguna Beach and it is available for an astonishing price of $18 million. This includes a nearly $2 million discount, and it is located at 31401 Mar Vista Avenue.
The luxury real estate has 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 11,333 square-feet of living space and a 11.77-acre lot and multiple levels. Considering the garages, patios and terraces, the usable square footage is reaches 18,000 square feet, which males the property the second largest home fore sale in Laguna.
At the time of it construction in 2009 the property was in escrow for $28 million. But the deal fell through so, when the construction completed in 2010, it went back to its lender.
The listing description looks like this “Villa Mar Vista, a sublime junction of privacy, acreage, generous interiors, tasteful design, plentiful outdoor spaces and vast coastal vistas firmly secures this new-construction compound as the finest estate in prestigious Laguna Beach. Every opportunity for coastline and Catalina Island views is taken and enhanced by craftsman windows and French doors that flow into the fruit and native plant laced gardens and terraces for years round indulgence in the celebrated coastal climate. Amenities include an infinity edge pool, spa, all en suite bedrooms, garaging for 20 cars, theatre room and an atrium foyer. The 11.77-acre parcel abuts another 40 acres of open space for the ultimate in privacy, views and artful living.”