Number of Foreclosure Filings Hits Record High in August

When the numbers for August foreclosures were reported, it can not be considered as good news especially considering that there were actually 304,000 homes in default. To make this even more depressing, data gathered by RealtyTrac showed that about 91,000 American families lost their homes to foreclosure.

Including all the houses that were repossessed by the mortgage lenders since August last year, there is already a total of 770,000 homes. More can actually be expected as the problems in the credit industry culminated in the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers and rescuing of AIG by the federal government this week.

Foreclosure filings actually include all the stage of foreclosure: default notices, auction notices and lastly, bank repossessions. The number of foreclosure filings last month increased by 12 percent from July and 27 percent from last year during the same period.

Experts consider the year-over-year increase to be conservative but only because August 2007’s foreclosure rate is already considered high. The number of foreclosure filing last month was deemed to be the largest since the online marketing group started tracking and issuing report last January 2005.

For Fannie Mae, the record high numbers are not surprising since they are expecting the foreclosure crisis to bottom out during the last months of the present year. With the national economy suffering another huge blow and the number of unemployed reaching 400,000 every month, it is not surprising that the bottom is much deeper than anticipated.

If some of the states did not pass new legislation that lengthened the waiting period for foreclosure filing, the figures for August could have been much worse. Many state governments have started to get involved in the plight of these distressed homeowners in order to curb the growing foreclosure rate. Lenders in some states are now being required to notify the troubled borrowers regarding the foreclosure filing at least 90 days in advance.

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Some respite for Homeowners in Orlando, Florida

Home-owners involved in Orange County homes, Orlando foreclosure homes included, are to receive help in the form of free sessions that will guide troubled home-owners through possible options they might have in dealing with their respective situations. With events like these springing up across the nation, home-owners facing the threat of foreclosure will at least be more knowledgeable about the situation that they are in.

The Legal Aid Society in Orange County has started a free clinic that is to be held every week. An attorney would be present to speak with home-owners who go in order to discuss their situations. Participants are advised to take along all documents pertaining to the mortgage and foreclosure of the home in question, this would help analyze the situation better, resulting in accurate advice being given. The clinic is held at 100 E. Robinson St., Orlando between 01:30pm and 04:00om every Tuesday.

A free foreclosure prevention seminar was held at the Orange County Convention Center on 08/21/08. Counseling was provided to home-owners who had problems with their mortgages, by professionals of many important mortgage lenders which included Wells Fargo, Countrywide Financial, Chase, Carrington, Ocwen, Option One, Citi and others. Hope Now, which is a voluntary coalition of big mortgage institutions, along with Fannie Mae and NeighborWorks America sponsored the event.

Organizers of the event said that the reason the seminar for home preservation was targeted at this area keeping in mind the high numbers of recorded foreclosures in the region. According to a report, around 2,000 foreclosures of homes were recorded in between June ‘07 and June ‘08 in Orange County. The State of Florida, for the same time period, had around 40,000 foreclosures and led the list of states with the highest number of foreclosures in the country.

A hotline has been set up which is to serve home-owners facing foreclosure. This hotline would connect a home-owner with a volunteer attorney and has been set up by the Florida bar.

With help in fighting foreclosure and people interested in buying homes, owners part of Orlando foreclosures homes could see some relief.

Start your search for Foreclosure Homes in Florida Cities:

• Miami Foreclosure Homes
• Orlando Foreclosure Homes
• Tampa Foreclosure Homes

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San Francisco’s Role in the California Housing Sector

With the costs of houses in San Francisco being very high during the period when the housing sector was at its peak, now, despite the record number of San Francisco foreclosure homes for sale and the resulting drop of prices, prices continue to remain unaffordable. This is according to a recently released report by the California Building Industry Association.

The CBIA says that although many of the markets in California have seen an increase in affordability in 2008’s second quarter, it does remain to be a long term concern.

The periodical National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) showed that the San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties are in the forefront when it comes to metro areas that are least affordable in California.

During 2008’s second quarter, six out of the ten metro areas in the country that were least affordable belonged to California.

CBIA’s CEO and president, Robert Rivinius, said that prospective buyers scouting to buy a home would see the affordability rates increasing as good news.

Home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area have already seen a rise according to an independently released report. A 2.2% rise in home sales has been seen in July this year when compared with July 2007. This is a first from January, 2005.

There were 7,586 sales of condos and re-sale homes in the San Francisco bay area that comprises of nine counties in July 2008, as compared with 7,423 sales in July 2007.

According to the report, re-sales of foreclosures played in big part with the sales figures. Of all the homes which were sold during July, 33% of all re-sales were houses which were foreclosed in the previous 12 months. This figure in June 2008 stood at 29.9% and in July 2007, it was 4.2%; going to show a steep incline over last year.

The region reached its lowest point in relation to homes median prices since March, 2005.

Also, monthly mortgage payments have, on an average, gone down too; from $3,222 in July, 2007 to $2,218 in July, 2008.

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Senate to Fannie, Freddie: Freeze Foreclosures!

This week, several mortgage companies were placed under the control of government-backed enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And to provide the troubled borrowers with immediate relief, the Senate Banking Committee urge the two federal agencies to momentarily freeze foreclosures on these loans, for a minimum of 90 days.

By doing so, the distressed mortgage companies might have the chance to turn such non - performing loans and change them into performing assets. This will, most likely, minimize the losses incurred due to foreclosure. To accomplish this, the companies will have to modify the terms of the mortgages and ease some of their policies, in order to make it easier for the troubled borrowers to meet their obligations.

Many lawmakers have already pressed mortgage lenders to work with the borrowers by adjusting the mortgage loan terms and consequently, reduce balances. By doing so, they will be doing the whole nation a great favor.

Considering that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own almost 50 percent of the total residential mortgages – roughly amounting to $12 trillion, they can actually direct mortgage servicers to stop any foreclosure proceeding. For this reason, the Committee members strongly believe that these two federal agencies have the means to minimize the impact of the foreclosure crisis on the entire nation, particularly on the taxpayers.

Across the nation, millions of homeowners facing foreclosure are attempting to work out their mortgage problems with their lenders. Some of them are being assisted by foreclosure counselors who act as mediators. A growing number of defaulted loans have already been modified, allowing the homeowner to stay on their homes.

Many housing advocates have urged distressed homeowners to sit down with their lenders and discuss possible solutions so that both parties can avoid foreclosure. These options include repayment plan, loan modification, short sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure and in some cases, a bankruptcy.

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