Lower Foreclosure Rate Seen in 2011 Across the US

A nationalized company maintaining the records of foreclosure activities of the country released a report recently where it has been stated that the number of foreclosure filings in the country has moved down by about 40% in 2011 in comparison to 2010.

However, real estate experts said that the 2011 database is not enough to conclude that the housing market of the country has recovered. They stated that this low number of foreclosures last year is an outcome of several factors.

According to some analysts, the investigations of fraud or improper foreclosure cases by federal officials delayed the foreclosure processing of many cases which are likely to come up in the inventory of 2012. Some have said that the banks are approving short sales in large numbers to help distressed homeowners to avoid foreclosure.

Gorilla Capital is an agency in Eugene which business with foreclosed properties. This company buys foreclosed properties, renovates them and then sells them off to new buyers. CEO of this company, John Helmick said, “The job market hasn’t changed that much, at least not in Oregon. We’re simply running out of bad loans to foreclose on.”

RealtyTrac reported that the foreclosure filings in Lane County were lower at 1,379 in 2011, which is 42% less than 2010. Filings in Oregon were lower by 39% and the overall filings of the country were down by 34% in 2011.

The real estate agent of Eugene, Barbara Thomas said that this is not the right time to celebrate this low rate of foreclosure because 2012 will again come up with a large number of foreclosures. She is associated with RE/MAX Integrity. She said, “The biggest factor was that basically there was a moratorium on foreclosures in the first part of 2011.”

After proper scrutiny through the federal records, it has been found that since February 2011, all foreclosure activities were stopped by Bank of America in Lane County. From September, this bank has started foreclosure processing once again in this region. At present, this bank is handling 206 foreclosures all across the nation.

Sixel Real Estate’s principal, Kit Sixel said that the banks are not accepting any more rock bottom plans to avoid foreclosure but are allowing short sales, which can help borrowers get rid of foreclosure by selling off their properties at a reduced price to pay back their loans.

She said, “They’re really wheeling and dealing with short sales. There’s been so much action with the short sales. But with short sales, there’s usually people living in the house and it’s intrusive to say ‘Hey, look at these people. They’re having problems paying their mortgage.’”