The Housing Bubble

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “Hundreds of at-risk homeowners poured into the Palm Beach County Convention Center on Friday in hopes of saving their homes. According to U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, maintaining homeownership is pivotal in turning the economy around. ‘The government needs to recognize that if we want to be serious about making the economy better, we have to help people own their homes,’ Deutch said.”

“Ron Faris, president of Ocwen Financial Corp., primary sponsor of the Hope Now event, said mistakes were made with unsustainable loans that hurt the consumer. ‘Many customers, although they might be able to afford their payments, their houses are significantly under water and it makes it difficult for them to want to continue on,’ Faris added.”

“Two years ago, Mary Blady’s husband, Howard, who works in construction, was laid off when the housing market collapsed in the wake of the recession and lending crisis. Then, when they couldn’t pay their mortgage on time, the bank foreclosed on their Winter Park home where they had lived for 10 years. Howard recently got a full-time job again, making the same money as he had before, but the bank has refused to set up a payment plan to stave off foreclosure, Mary said.”

“‘The banks caused this, then we helped them with a huge bailout, and now they’re foreclosing on our homes,’ she said. ‘How crazy is that?’”

“When she found out that the Hardest Hit Fund might be able to save her house, she said she discovered that despite their recent struggles with unemployment and underemployment, they didn’t qualify for assistance. That kind of frustration has made her wonder why an assistance fund was set up at all. ‘Why don’t you just hand over that billion dollars to the banks now and save a few trees?’ she said. ‘You can even give ’em our house keys.’”

“About 1,140 homeowners on the Treasure Coast and in Okeechobee County have applied for the program. But of those, just 61 local applications have been approved. Treasure Coast homeowners received only $49,207 so far out of the $1.098 million that was allocated to them collectively out of the program’s budget.”

“Meanwhile, 269 Treasure Coast applications were rejected because they did not meet the program eligibility guidelines. ‘Very few applications even ended up at the final table,’ said Anthony Gambardella, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie Inc. about the Hardest Hit Fund. ‘(It’s) another tail chasing the dog program.’”

“New Jersey is third in the nation in the number of loans either in foreclosure or on the brink, with more than one of every 10 either already in foreclosure or ’seriously delinquent,’ according to a report issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The figures are also affected by when the loans were taken: Those between 2005 and 2007 accounted for 30 percent of all mortgages but 65 percent of the seriously delinquent loans – thanks, of course, to the housing bubble.”

“At the same time, New Jersey is one of several states suffering from backlogged foreclosure filings that would have drastically driven up the number, the association cautioned. ‘The good news is the continued decline in long-term delinquencies, those mortgages that are three payments or more past due,’ said said Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s Chief Economist. ‘The bad news is that drop is offset by an increase in newly delinquent loans one payment past due.’”

“About half of all residential real estate sales in Ventura County this spring involved properties in some stage of foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac. Ventura County had the seventh-highest average sales price for foreclosure-related homes among the state’s 58 counties — $348,892, said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac director of marketing communications.”

“Beverly Durham, a Realtor with RE/MAX in Camarillo, said she has seen an increase of short sales in Oxnard, Camarillo and Ventura, while nonforeclosure sellers are choosing to hold on to their properties. ‘If you don’t have to sell, I would stay in the home unless you really need to get out of it,’ Durham said. ‘Why would a buyer pay more money for a property when they can go down the block and get the same home for a lesser price?’”

“While the median price of a house in Cascade County hasn’t changed much over the past three years, Flathead and Gallatin Counties have seen dramatic changes. New homes were going up left and right in those counties, but now homebuilders aren’t so busy. The reason people aren’t buying houses, says Patrick Barkey, the Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana, is because prices keep going down.”

“‘With prices falling, why not wait a little longer and see if you can get a better deal,’ he points out. Barkey predicts prices will stop falling by then end of 2011, which is good news for realtors.”

“According to RealtyTrac, there were 280 sales in April through June in Douglas County and the average price was $89,504. Homes that were not in foreclosure that were sold average $100,155. While the numbers are good, it shows that the high number or repossessed homes, has made it a buyers’ market.”

“‘Now is an incredible time for potential homebuyer,’ said Sheree Newmeyer of Better Homes and Garden Real Estate/Metro Brokers. ‘The high number on the market have given buyers several to select from, and the prices are incredible. When you look at what these homes sold for new versus what they are now, it is great for the buyer. Couple that with the low interest rates, and it’s a double bonus for buyers.’”

“Residents going through foreclosure in East Central Illinois have lost their jobs or had their hours cut; are dealing with an illness and have more medical bills. Some are going through a divorce, or have taken out a subprime mortgage loan they could not afford. In some cases they’re first-time home buyers like Kevin Schoening. Foreclosures will not go away by the homeowner avoiding court or ignoring letters from lenders or attorneys, said Schoening, who said people who go through a foreclosure should document every person they see and every conversation they have about the case.”

“‘There’s going to be some tears, some yelling, some sleepless nights,’ he said. ‘When you’re in foreclosure, you’ve got to jump into that system. Show up in court. If you don’t know what to do, say, ‘I’m not sure what do to,’ said Schoening, whose wife has regained her health and is able to work again. They’re now renting a home in Champaign. ‘There is life after a foreclosure,’ he said.”

“Head north from Las Vegas on Interstate 15 and you can’t miss Mesquite. Boom times began with the completion of Interstate 15, which connected Las Vegas with points north. Somebody put in a couple of poker machines at the truck stop. Soon casinos followed. The city incorporated in 1984 and drew up its master development plan during the early 1990s. The goal was to attract retirees by offering an alternative to Las Vegas.”

“But like so many other places, Mesquite began to struggle as the housing industry imploded and hard times came. The hulking ghosts of the boom times, The Mesquite Star and The Oasis casinos, are shuttered now, with fading paint and empty parking lots. As its corporate owner tries to emerge from bankruptcy, the big lights outside The Oasis still offer the $5.99, all-you-can-eat roast beef buffet to travelers. But now the feast is nothing more than an empty promise.”

“Mesquite isn’t one of those foreclosure ghost towns that blight other parts of Nevada. It seems more a case of arrested development. Newly paved streets lead nowhere. There is an empty, half-baked feel to the place. Even the city’s anticipated growth proved to be a mirage. After years of recession, the official U.S. 2010 Census count is 15,277, still almost double what it was a decade ago but far short of the 20,440 Mesquite claims on its website. ‘Either we managed to drive away 6,000 people or that number is a fantasy,’ said Morris Workman, who until recently covered City Hall as editor of The Mesquite Local News.”

“Responding to Rebecca Mowbray’s story ‘Foreclosures are growing part of the New Orleans area real estate market,’ reader milwriter commented: ‘And remember the major cause of this housing crisis: the unholy alliance of the feds and financial services industry encouraging, prodding and prompting many who could not afford real estate into the market.’”

“‘It’s time to stop leading ALL working adults to believe that owning a home (or condo) is part of the American dream. Many can’t and never will be able to afford their own residence.’”