Dave Thurman's Real Estate Blog

California
Foreclosure activity slowed again in July, except for a slight increase in Sold to 3rd Party auction sales on the courthouse steps. Notice of Default filings fell by 11.7 percent from June, and 30.6 percent from a year ago. Notice of Trustee Sale filings were down 5.4 percent from June, and have dropped 25.3 percent from July 2010. Cancellations decreased for the third consecutive month, with a 5.3 percent drop compared to June, and were down 32.0 percent year-over-year. Foreclosures going Back to Bank (REO) declined 4.0 percent from June, down for the second month in a row. Foreclosures Sold to 3rd Parties nudged up 1.2 percent from June, and are at the same level as this time last year. Time to Foreclose decreased slightly from June, down less than one percent to 313 days; although year-over-year remained up 19.5 percent. 3rd Party investors continue to resell inventory faster than banks, with the average at 131 days compared to the average Time to Resell for Banks at 235 days.
View all California stats by state, county, city or ZIP

The above foreclosure report is emailed to me each month from ForeclosureRadar…please check out their excellent website at http://www.foreclosureradar.com

For release:
July 21, 2011

Short-sale process broken, pushing Central Valley families into foreclosure,
REALTOR® survey shows
Latest lender satisfaction survey highlights glaring issues in short-sale process

FRESNO, CALIF.  (July 21) – More than half of Central Valley REALTORS® characterized closing short-sale transactions as “difficult” or “extremely difficult,” according to a Lender Satisfaction Survey conducted by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).  The survey gauges REALTORS®’ experience working with lenders in their most recent transaction.  The majority of those surveyed dealt with short-sale transactions – transactions in which the lender or lenders agree to accept less than the mortgage amount owed by the current homeowner.

“The survey results demonstrate the ongoing problems homeowners are experiencing with onerous short-sale procedures on the part of lenders and servicers,” said C.A.R. Treasurer Don Faught, who presented the findings today at a news conference in Fresno, Calif.  “Despite assurances by lenders in recent months that they would improve their short-sale processes, clearly, not enough is being done.  Lenders are out of touch with the realities of the market and the consequences to struggling homeowners, and the result is unnecessary foreclosures that only make California’s economic problems worse, hindering a desperately needed recovery.”

The top three obstacles REALTORS® most frequently cited in working with lenders and servicers during the short-sale process include lenders’ slow response time to a short-sale package,  repeated requests for documentation, and poor communication with lender representatives.  Some REALTORS® even indicated that the lender foreclosed on the home before the short-sale transaction could be completed.

Some specific REALTOR® comments from the survey include:  “Bank will not come down on price; home needs work, but the bank is being unrealistic.”  “Banks say they want to help work things out on short sales, but to be honest, I don’t believe they care.”  “The whole process is completely flawed.”   “The bank took over four months to give approval.  They refused to pay common seller closing costs and repeatedly demanded paperwork that had been sent previously.”

Nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of REALTORS®  said it took more than 60 days for lenders or servicers to return a written response on the approval or disapproval of the short-sale agreement submitted.  And, half of respondents said it took the lender more than five days to return any form of communication.

Overall satisfaction with the lenders REALTORS® worked with in their most recent short-sale transaction remains extremely poor, with 77 percent saying they were “not satisfied” or “not at all satisfied.”  Moreover, almost nine in 10 (88 percent) REALTORS® said they were “not likely” or “not at all likely” to refer buyers to the lender to finance future home purchases. [more from C.A.R.]

The above article was reprinted from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.)

Number of Homes for Sale vs. Sold vs. Pending

June 2010 there were 1088 homes for sale in Stockton, California in comparison to June 2011 where there was a decrease to 1062 homes for sale. The number of homes sold in June 2010  was 496 and in June 2011 the number of homes sold decreased to 354. In June 2010 there were 430 pending sales which increased to 616 in May 2011.

More graphs and charts from our MLS and  TrendVision Reports

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Here is my latest foreclosure report from ForeclosureRadar. Please check out their website!

California saw slowed foreclosure activity across the board. Notice of Default filings fell for the third consecutive month after a slight 1.5 percent drop in June. Notice of Trustee Sale filings were down in June as well, with an 11.7 percent decline month-over-month and a 34.3 percent drop from June 2010. Cancellations of foreclosure sales decreased for the second time in as many months, with a 3.0 percent drop compared to May. Foreclosure sales on the courthouse steps were slower than the prior month, with 13.4 percent fewer sales Back to Bank and 7.1 percent fewer foreclosed properties Sold to 3rd Parties. For the first time in six months the average time to foreclose decreased, down 7.9 percent to 317 days month-over-month but remained up 21.5 percent as compared to this time last year. Third parties continued to resell inventory more quickly, with the time to resell down 1.5 percent month-over-month to 131 days, clearly outperforming banks, which took an average of one hundred days longer at 231 days to resell inventory (REO).

Here is an interesting article I found while searching the internet this evening.

Defaulted Owners Living Payment Free For…Years (and Years)

Millions of homeowners in distress are getting some unexpected breathing room — lots of it in some places.

In New York State, it would take lenders 62 years at their current pace, the longest time frame in the nation, to repossess the 213,000 houses now in severe default or foreclosure, according to calculations by LPS Applied Analytics, a prominent real estate data firm.

Clearing the pipeline in New Jersey, which like New York handles foreclosures through the courts, would take 49 years. In Florida, Massachusetts and Illinois, it would take a decade.

In the 27 states where the courts play no role in foreclosures, the pace is much more brisk — three years in California, two years in Nevada and Colorado — but the dynamic is the same: the foreclosure system is bogged down by the volume of cases, borrowers are fighting to keep their houses and many lenders seem to be in no hurry to add repossessed houses to their books.

“If you were in foreclosure four years ago, you were biting your nails, asking yourself, ‘When is the sheriff going to show up and put me on the street?’ ” said Herb Blecher, an LPS senior vice president. “Now you’re probably not losing any sleep.”

When major banks acknowledged last fall that they had been illegally processing foreclosures by filing false court documents, they said that any pause in repossessions and evictions would be brief. All of the major servicers agreed to institute reforms in their foreclosure procedures. In April, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and other regulators gave the banks 60 days to draw up a plan to do so. [read more]   Real Estate Insider News

Related articles

• Lenders repossessed fewer homes in May
• Will Declaring Bankruptcy Stop a Foreclosure?
• Lenders repossessed fewer homes in May
• Pace of U.S. foreclosures slowed in April, but not in Puget Sound area
• Foreclosure mistakes occur despite promises
• Home repossessions slow, but market languishes
• Lenders repossessed fewer homes in May

I have often been asked…”Why did you purchase a Realty World franchise when you were already established as a successful real estate broker?

Realty World – Dave Thurman

Number of Homes for Sale vs. Sold vs. Pending

May 2010 there were 980 homes for sale in Stockton, California in comparison to May 2011 where there was an increase to 1098 homes for sale. The number of homes sold in May 2010  was 411 and in May 2011 the number of homes sold decreased to 358. In May 2010 there were 422 pending sales which increased to 584 in May 2011.

More graphs and charts from our MLS and TrendVision Reports

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently released its third Report to Congress, detailing the findings of the agency’s 2010 annual examinations of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks), and the FHLBanks’ Office of Finance.

“Since being placed under conservatorship in 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain critical supervisory concerns,” FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco wrote to Congress.

“These ratings are a result of continuing credit losses in 2010 from loans originated during 2005 through 2007 as well as forecasted losses from loans originated during that time. As a result of the conservatorships, federal government support and an improved corporate governance structure, the Enterprises accomplished their statutory mission of facilitating stability and liquidity for single-family and multifamily housing finance.”

Other details in the 2010 Report to Congress:

• Key challenges facing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac include, but are not limited to: credit risk, operational risk, modeling risks and retention of qualified leadership and personnel.
• In 2010, GSE losses totaled $28 billion. The GSEs completed 950,000 loan modifications and other foreclosure alternative actions in 2010.
• All FHLBanks recorded positive annual earnings in 2010, though some recorded losses in individual quarters. Advances (loans to members) at year-end 2010 totaled $479 billion, down from $631 billion at year-end 2009.
• The 2010 financial condition and performance of the FHLBanks stabilized but several FHLBanks continued to be negatively affected by their exposure to private-label mortgage-backed securities.

The above was brought to you from our California Association of REALTORS ®

C.A.R. Member Benefit #14: C.A.R. Newsline is a weekly e-newsletter covering vital industry information including economic reports, legislative developments, and new real estate products and services.

Here is my latest foreclosure report from ForeclosureRadar. Please check out their website!

06/14/2011 – Third party investors resold the homes they previously purchased at auction at a faster pace throughout our coverage area. As the most sophisticated and motivated homesellers in the marketplace, these investors provide an important indicator as to the health of the entire housing market. While the statistic is encouraging, it’s too early to tell whether it is a turning point from the otherwise recent downward trend within the housing market. [Read More]