This weeks weekly HotSheet for The Cascade Team Real Estate. Click the picture or this link to see what agents are listing homes, selling homes, and closing deals this week!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Issaquah Highlands Homes for Sale
Offered at $350,000 1911juneberrylanene.TheCascadeTeam.info
Immaculate home in the heart of the Highlands! Spacious end unit with 3 bedrooms plus main floor den. Great room with gas fireplace and large dining area. Chef's kitchen with granite counters, gleaming hardwoods and breakfast nook with slider to private patio. King sized master suite with sitting area. Sumptuous master bath with tile floor and large walk-in closet. Attached two car garage.
Matt Jensen
Office: 206.909.8200
Mobile: 206.909.8200
cary@thecascadeteam.com
www.mattjensenre.com
Managing Broker
Redmond Homes for Sale
Offered at $464,500 13724176thavenuene.TheCascadeTeam.info
Great Room Style English Hill 4 bed/2.5 bath Turn-Key Professional Remodel! New slab granite kitchen with stainless appliances, custom extra-tall cabinets. NEW Hardwoods on main floor, Brand New Master Bath: Spa-like floating glass tile shower, dual sink vanity w/ granite top! All baths Updated. NEW: Interior paint, new carpet in bedrooms, newly painted/stained decks. Super Backyard- LARGE & Private, entertainment deck, backs to greenbelt! Newer 40-yr. roof, quiet street, stellar Northshore schools, neighborhood trails lead to Sunrise Elementary! Welcome Home!
Shannon Woodcock
Office: 425.396.4569
Mobile: 206.484.5330
cary@thecascadeteam.com
www.shannonwoodcock.com
Broker
Seattle Area Leads Nation in Foreclosures
KOMO4 News:
Story Published: Oct 28, 2010 at 7:07 AM PDT
Story Updated: Oct 28, 2010 at 7:16 AM PDT
In the greater Seattle area including King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, 1 out of every 129 homes has recieved a Foreclosure Notice. Nationally that number is 1 out of every 339 meaning that Seattle is facing more than doubble the average foreclosure rate as the rest of the nation.
The foreclosure crisis intensified across a majority of large U.S. metropolitan areas this summer, with Seattle and Chicago - cities outside of the states that have shouldered the worst of the housing downturn - seeing a sharp increase in foreclosure warnings.
California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona remain the nation's foreclosure hotbeds, accounting for 19 of the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates between July and September, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
Those states saw housing values surge during the housing boom years. When the boom ended, values collapsed and foreclosures soared.
But the latest data show that many of the metro areas in those states saw a decline in the number of households receiving foreclosure-related filings, while many cities in other states saw a spike in foreclosure activity.
"The epidemic is spreading from the states at the ground zero of the foreclosure problems out into areas that hadn't been previously affected," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac.
The trend is the latest sign that the nation's foreclosure crisis is worsening as homeowners facing high unemployment, slow job growth and uncertainty about home prices continue to fall behind on their mortgage payments.
In all, 133 out of 206 metropolitan areas with at least 200,000 residents posted an annual increase in foreclosure activity in the three months ended Sept. 30, RealtyTrac said.
The firm tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions - warnings that can lead up to a home eventually being lost to foreclosure.
Eleven out of the nation's 20 largest metropolitan areas saw foreclosure activity increase in the third quarter compared to the same period last year.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area registered the sharpest annual increase - 71 percent. One in every 129 households received a foreclosure filing.
The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metropolitan area posted the second-highest annual jump, a 35 percent increase. One in every 84 households received a foreclosure notice.
Among the other metro areas where foreclosure activity jumped by a large margin this summer were Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, up 26 percent; Detroit-Warren-Livonia, at nearly 23 percent; and, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, up 20 percent.
Economic woes, such as unemployment or reduced income, continue to be the main catalysts for foreclosures this year. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 9.6 percent last month.
In the Seattle metro area, unemployment stood slightly lower at 8.5 percent in August and has been edging lower. It was 8.7 percent in August last year.
Still, many troubled homeowners have been unable to hang on. As a result, there's been no letup in the inventory of foreclosed homes on the market this year, says John Bauer, an agent with ZipRealty in Seattle who represents lenders selling foreclosed properties.
"It has been on an upward trend curve ever since 2008," Bauer said. "And not just the third quarter of this year, but the last 12 months, it's been on a steady ascension."
Chicago also had the third-highest number of homes repossessed by lenders during the quarter - 12,568 - behind the Phoenix metro area's 14,317 and the Miami metro area's 12,963, RealtyTrac said.
Banks have seized more than 816,000 homes through the first nine months of the year and are on pace to seize more than a million.
A controversy stemming from allegations that banks evicted people without reading foreclosure documents wasn't a factor in the July-September quarter, Sharga said.
Lenders such as Bank of America and Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage initially halted foreclosure activity but have since resumed processing foreclosures.
Preliminary data from this month shows almost no change in foreclosure activity versus September, Sharga said.
"We're not seeing what we might have anticipated in terms of a falloff," he said.
The Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., metropolitan area topped the list of metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates in July-September with one in every 25 homes receiving a foreclosure warning - more than five times the national average. But foreclosure filings declined 20 percent from the same quarter last year.
"It's not out of the woods yet, it's just less bad than it was a year ago," Sharga said.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 metros with the highest foreclosure rate were Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.; Modesto, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; Merced, Calif.; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.; Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.; Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.; Bakersfield, Calif.; and Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.The foreclosure crisis intensified across a majority of large U.S. metropolitan areas this summer, with Seattle and Chicago - cities outside of the states that have shouldered the worst of the housing downturn - seeing a sharp increase in foreclosure warnings.
California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona remain the nation's foreclosure hotbeds, accounting for 19 of the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates between July and September, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
Those states saw housing values surge during the housing boom years. When the boom ended, values collapsed and foreclosures soared.
But the latest data show that many of the metro areas in those states saw a decline in the number of households receiving foreclosure-related filings, while many cities in other states saw a spike in foreclosure activity.
"The epidemic is spreading from the states at the ground zero of the foreclosure problems out into areas that hadn't been previously affected," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac.
The trend is the latest sign that the nation's foreclosure crisis is worsening as homeowners facing high unemployment, slow job growth and uncertainty about home prices continue to fall behind on their mortgage payments.
In all, 133 out of 206 metropolitan areas with at least 200,000 residents posted an annual increase in foreclosure activity in the three months ended Sept. 30, RealtyTrac said.
The firm tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions - warnings that can lead up to a home eventually being lost to foreclosure.
Eleven out of the nation's 20 largest metropolitan areas saw foreclosure activity increase in the third quarter compared to the same period last year.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area registered the sharpest annual increase - 71 percent. One in every 129 households received a foreclosure filing.
The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metropolitan area posted the second-highest annual jump, a 35 percent increase. One in every 84 households received a foreclosure notice.
Among the other metro areas where foreclosure activity jumped by a large margin this summer were Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, up 26 percent; Detroit-Warren-Livonia, at nearly 23 percent; and, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, up 20 percent.
Economic woes, such as unemployment or reduced income, continue to be the main catalysts for foreclosures this year. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 9.6 percent last month.
In the Seattle metro area, unemployment stood slightly lower at 8.5 percent in August and has been edging lower. It was 8.7 percent in August last year.
Still, many troubled homeowners have been unable to hang on. As a result, there's been no letup in the inventory of foreclosed homes on the market this year, says John Bauer, an agent with ZipRealty in Seattle who represents lenders selling foreclosed properties.
"It has been on an upward trend curve ever since 2008," Bauer said. "And not just the third quarter of this year, but the last 12 months, it's been on a steady ascension."
Chicago also had the third-highest number of homes repossessed by lenders during the quarter - 12,568 - behind the Phoenix metro area's 14,317 and the Miami metro area's 12,963, RealtyTrac said.
Banks have seized more than 816,000 homes through the first nine months of the year and are on pace to seize more than a million.
A controversy stemming from allegations that banks evicted people without reading foreclosure documents wasn't a factor in the July-September quarter, Sharga said.
Lenders such as Bank of America and Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage initially halted foreclosure activity but have since resumed processing foreclosures.
Preliminary data from this month shows almost no change in foreclosure activity versus September, Sharga said.
"We're not seeing what we might have anticipated in terms of a falloff," he said.
The Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., metropolitan area topped the list of metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates in July-September with one in every 25 homes receiving a foreclosure warning - more than five times the national average. But foreclosure filings declined 20 percent from the same quarter last year.
"It's not out of the woods yet, it's just less bad than it was a year ago," Sharga said.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 metros with the highest foreclosure rate were Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.; Modesto, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; Merced, Calif.; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.; Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.; Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.; Bakersfield, Calif.; and Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.
Story Published: Oct 28, 2010 at 7:07 AM PDT
Story Updated: Oct 28, 2010 at 7:16 AM PDT
In the greater Seattle area including King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, 1 out of every 129 homes has recieved a Foreclosure Notice. Nationally that number is 1 out of every 339 meaning that Seattle is facing more than doubble the average foreclosure rate as the rest of the nation.
The foreclosure crisis intensified across a majority of large U.S. metropolitan areas this summer, with Seattle and Chicago - cities outside of the states that have shouldered the worst of the housing downturn - seeing a sharp increase in foreclosure warnings.
California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona remain the nation's foreclosure hotbeds, accounting for 19 of the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates between July and September, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
Those states saw housing values surge during the housing boom years. When the boom ended, values collapsed and foreclosures soared.
But the latest data show that many of the metro areas in those states saw a decline in the number of households receiving foreclosure-related filings, while many cities in other states saw a spike in foreclosure activity.
"The epidemic is spreading from the states at the ground zero of the foreclosure problems out into areas that hadn't been previously affected," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac.
The trend is the latest sign that the nation's foreclosure crisis is worsening as homeowners facing high unemployment, slow job growth and uncertainty about home prices continue to fall behind on their mortgage payments.
In all, 133 out of 206 metropolitan areas with at least 200,000 residents posted an annual increase in foreclosure activity in the three months ended Sept. 30, RealtyTrac said.
The firm tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions - warnings that can lead up to a home eventually being lost to foreclosure.
Eleven out of the nation's 20 largest metropolitan areas saw foreclosure activity increase in the third quarter compared to the same period last year.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area registered the sharpest annual increase - 71 percent. One in every 129 households received a foreclosure filing.
The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metropolitan area posted the second-highest annual jump, a 35 percent increase. One in every 84 households received a foreclosure notice.
Among the other metro areas where foreclosure activity jumped by a large margin this summer were Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, up 26 percent; Detroit-Warren-Livonia, at nearly 23 percent; and, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, up 20 percent.
Economic woes, such as unemployment or reduced income, continue to be the main catalysts for foreclosures this year. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 9.6 percent last month.
In the Seattle metro area, unemployment stood slightly lower at 8.5 percent in August and has been edging lower. It was 8.7 percent in August last year.
Still, many troubled homeowners have been unable to hang on. As a result, there's been no letup in the inventory of foreclosed homes on the market this year, says John Bauer, an agent with ZipRealty in Seattle who represents lenders selling foreclosed properties.
"It has been on an upward trend curve ever since 2008," Bauer said. "And not just the third quarter of this year, but the last 12 months, it's been on a steady ascension."
Chicago also had the third-highest number of homes repossessed by lenders during the quarter - 12,568 - behind the Phoenix metro area's 14,317 and the Miami metro area's 12,963, RealtyTrac said.
Banks have seized more than 816,000 homes through the first nine months of the year and are on pace to seize more than a million.
A controversy stemming from allegations that banks evicted people without reading foreclosure documents wasn't a factor in the July-September quarter, Sharga said.
Lenders such as Bank of America and Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage initially halted foreclosure activity but have since resumed processing foreclosures.
Preliminary data from this month shows almost no change in foreclosure activity versus September, Sharga said.
"We're not seeing what we might have anticipated in terms of a falloff," he said.
The Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., metropolitan area topped the list of metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates in July-September with one in every 25 homes receiving a foreclosure warning - more than five times the national average. But foreclosure filings declined 20 percent from the same quarter last year.
"It's not out of the woods yet, it's just less bad than it was a year ago," Sharga said.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 metros with the highest foreclosure rate were Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.; Modesto, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; Merced, Calif.; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.; Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.; Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.; Bakersfield, Calif.; and Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.The foreclosure crisis intensified across a majority of large U.S. metropolitan areas this summer, with Seattle and Chicago - cities outside of the states that have shouldered the worst of the housing downturn - seeing a sharp increase in foreclosure warnings.
California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona remain the nation's foreclosure hotbeds, accounting for 19 of the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates between July and September, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
Those states saw housing values surge during the housing boom years. When the boom ended, values collapsed and foreclosures soared.
But the latest data show that many of the metro areas in those states saw a decline in the number of households receiving foreclosure-related filings, while many cities in other states saw a spike in foreclosure activity.
"The epidemic is spreading from the states at the ground zero of the foreclosure problems out into areas that hadn't been previously affected," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac.
The trend is the latest sign that the nation's foreclosure crisis is worsening as homeowners facing high unemployment, slow job growth and uncertainty about home prices continue to fall behind on their mortgage payments.
In all, 133 out of 206 metropolitan areas with at least 200,000 residents posted an annual increase in foreclosure activity in the three months ended Sept. 30, RealtyTrac said.
The firm tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions - warnings that can lead up to a home eventually being lost to foreclosure.
Eleven out of the nation's 20 largest metropolitan areas saw foreclosure activity increase in the third quarter compared to the same period last year.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area registered the sharpest annual increase - 71 percent. One in every 129 households received a foreclosure filing.
The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metropolitan area posted the second-highest annual jump, a 35 percent increase. One in every 84 households received a foreclosure notice.
Among the other metro areas where foreclosure activity jumped by a large margin this summer were Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, up 26 percent; Detroit-Warren-Livonia, at nearly 23 percent; and, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, up 20 percent.
Economic woes, such as unemployment or reduced income, continue to be the main catalysts for foreclosures this year. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 9.6 percent last month.
In the Seattle metro area, unemployment stood slightly lower at 8.5 percent in August and has been edging lower. It was 8.7 percent in August last year.
Still, many troubled homeowners have been unable to hang on. As a result, there's been no letup in the inventory of foreclosed homes on the market this year, says John Bauer, an agent with ZipRealty in Seattle who represents lenders selling foreclosed properties.
"It has been on an upward trend curve ever since 2008," Bauer said. "And not just the third quarter of this year, but the last 12 months, it's been on a steady ascension."
Chicago also had the third-highest number of homes repossessed by lenders during the quarter - 12,568 - behind the Phoenix metro area's 14,317 and the Miami metro area's 12,963, RealtyTrac said.
Banks have seized more than 816,000 homes through the first nine months of the year and are on pace to seize more than a million.
A controversy stemming from allegations that banks evicted people without reading foreclosure documents wasn't a factor in the July-September quarter, Sharga said.
Lenders such as Bank of America and Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage initially halted foreclosure activity but have since resumed processing foreclosures.
Preliminary data from this month shows almost no change in foreclosure activity versus September, Sharga said.
"We're not seeing what we might have anticipated in terms of a falloff," he said.
The Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., metropolitan area topped the list of metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates in July-September with one in every 25 homes receiving a foreclosure warning - more than five times the national average. But foreclosure filings declined 20 percent from the same quarter last year.
"It's not out of the woods yet, it's just less bad than it was a year ago," Sharga said.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 metros with the highest foreclosure rate were Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.; Modesto, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; Merced, Calif.; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.; Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.; Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.; Bakersfield, Calif.; and Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Seattle Home price decline 5th worse in US amoung cities.
By The Associated Press and Seattle Times staff
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index fell 0.2 percent in August from July. Fifteen of the cities showed monthly price declines, including Seattle, whose 0.75 percent drop was the fifth worst.
Home prices are weakening around the country, even in metro areas that were showing strength earlier in the year.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday fell 0.2percent in August from July. Fifteen of the cities, including Seattle, showed monthly price declines. Prices are expected to drop further in the coming months.
The biggest drop came in Phoenix. Prices there fell 1.3 percent from a month earlier. Seattle's decline of 0.75 percent was fifth worst among the 20 cities.
Prices in three California cities that had been rebounding — San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles — also fell in August from July.
Detroit, Chicago, Washington, New York and Las Vegas were the only cities to show monthly price increases. The 20-city index has risen 6.7 percent from its April 2009 bottom. But it remains nearly 28 percent below its July 2006 peak.
A higher proportion of foreclosed homes likely pushed down California markets, said David Blitzer, the S&P index's chairman. During the summer, foreclosures were moving swiftly. That was before allegations surfaced of mortgage lenders using flawed documents to foreclose on homes. Lenders responded by freezing foreclosures in many states.
Even with the declines, the San Francisco area's home prices have surged more than 21 percent from spring 2009, when they hit bottom. Prices in San Diego have risen nearly 14 percent and in Los Angeles they have increased by more than 10 percent in that same period. Home prices would have to rise by more than 50 percent in each of the markets to return to their peaks during the housing boom.
Those California cities "had come back very fast and very strongly," Blitzer said. "Prices come down when you get a lot more foreclosures."
Problems with flawed foreclosure paperwork could weaken home prices. That would happen if buyers fear purchasing foreclosed homes because the sale could be contested — or even canceled — if the previous owner claims the foreclosure was invalid.
In an October survey taken by the National Association of Realtors, about 23 percent of real-estate agents said they have a client who is no longer interested in purchasing a foreclosed property due to the foreclosure-document mess.
In the short run, however, the documents problem could prop up sale prices if fewer foreclosed homes are put up for sale.
Home prices rose in many markets from April through July. But those increases were mostly fueled by now-expired government tax credits. Now that the peak buying season is over, a record number of foreclosures, job concerns and weak demand are pushing prices down.
August's Case-Shiller price decline in the Seattle metropolitan area — which includes King, Snohomish and Pierce counties — followed five straight months of increases. Prices are down 24 percent from their August 2007 peak.
Most experts expect roughly 5 million U.S. homes to be sold through the entire year. That would be in line with last year's totals and just above sales for 2008, the worst since 1997.
Seattle Times business reporter Eric Pryne contributed to this report.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index fell 0.2 percent in August from July. Fifteen of the cities showed monthly price declines, including Seattle, whose 0.75 percent drop was the fifth worst.
Home prices are weakening around the country, even in metro areas that were showing strength earlier in the year.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday fell 0.2percent in August from July. Fifteen of the cities, including Seattle, showed monthly price declines. Prices are expected to drop further in the coming months.
The biggest drop came in Phoenix. Prices there fell 1.3 percent from a month earlier. Seattle's decline of 0.75 percent was fifth worst among the 20 cities.
Prices in three California cities that had been rebounding — San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles — also fell in August from July.
Detroit, Chicago, Washington, New York and Las Vegas were the only cities to show monthly price increases. The 20-city index has risen 6.7 percent from its April 2009 bottom. But it remains nearly 28 percent below its July 2006 peak.
A higher proportion of foreclosed homes likely pushed down California markets, said David Blitzer, the S&P index's chairman. During the summer, foreclosures were moving swiftly. That was before allegations surfaced of mortgage lenders using flawed documents to foreclose on homes. Lenders responded by freezing foreclosures in many states.
Even with the declines, the San Francisco area's home prices have surged more than 21 percent from spring 2009, when they hit bottom. Prices in San Diego have risen nearly 14 percent and in Los Angeles they have increased by more than 10 percent in that same period. Home prices would have to rise by more than 50 percent in each of the markets to return to their peaks during the housing boom.
Those California cities "had come back very fast and very strongly," Blitzer said. "Prices come down when you get a lot more foreclosures."
Problems with flawed foreclosure paperwork could weaken home prices. That would happen if buyers fear purchasing foreclosed homes because the sale could be contested — or even canceled — if the previous owner claims the foreclosure was invalid.
In an October survey taken by the National Association of Realtors, about 23 percent of real-estate agents said they have a client who is no longer interested in purchasing a foreclosed property due to the foreclosure-document mess.
In the short run, however, the documents problem could prop up sale prices if fewer foreclosed homes are put up for sale.
Home prices rose in many markets from April through July. But those increases were mostly fueled by now-expired government tax credits. Now that the peak buying season is over, a record number of foreclosures, job concerns and weak demand are pushing prices down.
August's Case-Shiller price decline in the Seattle metropolitan area — which includes King, Snohomish and Pierce counties — followed five straight months of increases. Prices are down 24 percent from their August 2007 peak.
Most experts expect roughly 5 million U.S. homes to be sold through the entire year. That would be in line with last year's totals and just above sales for 2008, the worst since 1997.
Seattle Times business reporter Eric Pryne contributed to this report.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Home Sales Up In Sept. But More Troubles Ahead.
ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer
WASHINGTON -- Sales of previously occupied homes rose last month after the worst summer for the housing market in more than a decade. And the industry fears lawsuits over flawed foreclosure documents could keep buyers on the sidelines in the final months of the year.
Sales grew 10 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.
Home sales have declined 37.5 percent from their peak annual rate of 7.25 million in September 2005. They have risen from July's rate of 3.84 million, which was the lowest in 15 years.
Most experts expect roughly 5 million homes to be sold through the entire year. That would be in line with last year's totals and just above sales for 2008, the worst since 1997.
Still, sales could fall further if potential lawsuits from former homeowners claiming that banks made errors when seizing their homes make consumers fearful of buying foreclosed properties.
"You're going to see uncertainty on the part of homebuyers," said Quinn Eddins, director of research at Radar Logic Inc., which tracks the housing market.
In a survey taken by the Realtors group this month, about 23 percent of the 2,000 agents surveyed said they have a client who is no longer interested in purchasing a foreclosed property due to the foreclosure-document mess.
Federal banking regulators and attorneys general in all 50 states are investigating whether mortgage companies forced people from their homes using flawed paperwork.
Mortgage applications to purchase homes last week were 29 percent below the same week a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. At that time, buyers were rushing to purchase homes to qualify for federal tax credits.
Last month the inventory of unsold homes on the market fell about 2 percent to 4 million. That's a 10.8 month supply at the current sales pace. It compares with a healthy level of about six months.
Sales grew last month across the country. They rose by 14.5 percent from a month earlier in the Midwest, nearly 11 percent in the South, 10 percent in the Northeast and 5 percent in the West.
The median sale price was $171,700, down 2.4 percent from the same month year ago.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
CNN Ranks 6 NW areas as most overvalued in US!
Metro area Median home price Percent overvalued 2010 Percent overvalued 2006
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Don't say we didn't warn you.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Don't say we didn't warn you.
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