Foreclosures Drop to 5 Year Lows.

Foreclosures Drop to 5 Year Lows

Foreclosures continue to do the opposite of what most analysts had predicted: They keep falling rather than rising.

Foreclosure filings in September fell 7 percent from August and are down 16 percent from last September, RealtyTrac reported Thursday. Foreclosure filings include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions.

The number of foreclosure filings in September reached their lowest level since July 2007. What’s more, foreclosure filings have decreased 13 percent in the third quarter compared to the third quarter of 2011, marking the ninth consecutive quarter with an annual decrease in foreclosures activity, RealtyTrac reports.

“We’ve been waiting for the other foreclosure shoe to drop since late 2010, when questionable foreclosure practices slowed activity to a crawl in many areas, but that other shoe is instead being carefully lowered to the floor and therefore making little noise in the housing market — at least at a national level,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Make no mistake, however, the other shoe is dropping quite loudly in certain states, primarily those where foreclosure activity was held back the most last year.”

A backlog of delayed foreclosures in certain states may be problematic in some areas soon, Blomquist says, particularly in judicial states, where foreclosures must be approved by a court. Florida, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey, and New York have posted the largest year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity.

Meanwhile, other states are seeing large drops in foreclosure activity, mostly centered in “non-judicial” states, where foreclosures do not have to be court-approved. For example, states like California, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, and Michigan have posted large drops in foreclosure activity.

Source: RealtyTrac

Wells Fargo Accused of ‘Reckless’ Lending.

Wells Fargo Accused of ‘Reckless’ Lending

The government has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Wells Fargo, alleging the nation’s largest mortgage lender has engaged in a decade of regular “reckless origination and underwriting” of government-backed loans.

The government’s lawsuit against Wells Fargo is the latest in its broad sweep against banks that cites the Federal False Claims Act, which targets lenders accused of misusing Federal Housing Administration loans. (The FHA does not make loans but insures loans that lenders make.)

Wells Fargo denies any wrongdoing and said it would “vigorously” defend itself against the government’s accusations. Company officials said they acted in “good faith and in compliance” with federal guidelines in their lending.

In February, Bank of America, which never admitted any wrongdoing, reached a $1 billion settlement involving False Claims Act fraud allegations with FHA-backed loans. Three other banks, in similar recent cases, also have agreed to pay $490 million.

Source: “U.S. Sues Wells Fargo for Faulty Mortgages,” The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 9, 2012)

Upbeat About Housing.

Upbeat About Housing

Americans continue to get more optimistic and Upbeat About Housing, according to Fannie Mae’s September National Housing Survey of 1,000 Americans. In fact, Americans’ views on the direction of housing prices has remained positive for 11 consecutive months in the survey, and the number of people expecting home prices to fall now rests at 11 percent, an all-time low since the survey began in 2010.

Overall, survey respondents are so Upbeat About Housing, they expect home prices to increase 1.5 percent, on average, in the next year.

“Consumers are showing increasing faith in the nascent housing recovery,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist.

Nearly 20 percent say now is a good time to sell, the highest percentage since the survey began in 2010. Also, 69 percent say now would be a great time to buy if they were planning to move.

Survey respondents also showed more optimism for the direction of the economy as well as the Upbeat About Housing sector. Forty-one percent say the economy is on the right track, which is up from 33 percent last month. Still, 53 percent of survey respondents say the economy is on the wrong track.

Source: Fannie Mae

Most Sellers Estimate Home Value Well Above Recommended Listing Price.

Most Sellers Estimate Home Value Well Above Recommended Listing Price

Many home owners think their Home Value is worth a lot more than it really is, according to HomeGain’s third quarter 2012 National Home Values Survey Results of 300 real estate agents.

Seventy-seven percent of sellers say their home is worth more than their real estate agents’ recommended selling price.

Some home owners are overestimating their Home Value by up to 20 percent. Nearly 40 percent of real estate agents surveyed say that home owners believe their home is 10 to 20 percent higher than it really is, with another 40 percent reporting overestimates of 1 to 9 percent. Only about six percent of home owners underestimate the value of their home, believing it to be worth less.

Meanwhile, the majority of home buyers believe that the Home Value for sales are overpriced.

Twenty-three percent of real estate professionals say that buyers believe home prices are overpriced by 10 to 20 percent, and 36 percent say prices are inflated by less than 10 percent. About 28 percent say Home Value to prices tend to be fair.

The survey found that many homes sell for less than the price at which they are listed, about 77 percent. Nearly 60 percent of real estate professionals say that the average difference between listing price and sales price is less than 5 to 10 percent.

Source: HomeGain

Asking Prices Soar Nationwide.

Asking Prices Soar Nationwide

Asking prices posted their largest year-over-year increase since the housing slump began, a monthly report from Trulia shows. Home prices listed on the Trulia web site were up 2.5 percent nationally. When foreclosures are left out, asking prices were up 3.5 percent from year-ago levels.

Asking prices on listed homes rose in 74 out of the 100 largest metro areas Trulia tracked. From July to August, asking prices posted a 0.5 percent gain, marking the eighth consecutive month for price increases.

“Right now, Asking prices are recovering across the country, with few local markets left behind,” says Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist.

The report, also including for-rent properties listed on Trulia, showed asking rents have increased nearly 5 percent from a year ago in September. The metros posting the largest asking rents in the past year were Houston (15.9%); Miami (10.4%), Seattle (9.6%), and Oakland, Calif. (9.2%).

Source: “Asking Prices Post Biggest Increase Since Bust Began,” Inman News (Oct. 4, 2012)