Foreclosure filings in the U.S. tumbled last month to the lowest in almost four years as banks weighed down by an increasing inventory of seized homes delayed processing defaults, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
A total of 214,927 properties received default, auction or repossession notices in May, the fewest since November 2007, the Irvine, California-based data company said today in a statement. Filings dropped 33 percent from a year earlier and 2 percent from April. One in 605 households got a notice.
Foreclosure filings have fallen for eight straight months on a year-over-year basis as banks rework their documentation procedures following claims they improperly repossessed homes. Weak demand from buyers is making it difficult for lenders to sell the properties that they already have on their books, known as real estate owned, or REOs, according to RealtyTrac.
“Foreclosure processing delays continue to mask the true face of the foreclosure situation,” James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. “Even at a significantly lower level than a year ago, the new supply of REOs exceeds the amount being sold each month.”
Unemployment and falling home values are limiting property sales and have pushed about 28 percent of mortgage holders underwater on their loans, meaning they owe more than the home is worth, according to Zillow Inc. The U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent in May from 9 percent the previous month, the Labor Department reported June 3.
Eight-Year Low
Home prices slid 3.6 percent in the first quarter to the lowest level since 2003 in the S&P/Case-Shiller index of values in 20 U.S. cities. Confidence among builders in June was at the weakest in nine months, as executives expressed pessimism about the prospect of higher sales, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index showed yesterday.
The inventory of distressed homes nationwide stands at 1.8 million, which would take about three years to sell at the current pace, Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac’s communications manager, said in a telephone interview.
Default notices were filed on 58,797 U.S. properties last month, the lowest in more than four years and a 39 percent decline from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac.
Auctions were scheduled for 89,251 properties, down 33 percent from May 2010. Lenders seized 66,879 homes, a 29 percent decrease from a year earlier.
States where courts oversee foreclosures showed a 45 percent decrease in filings from a year earlier, while non- judicial states had a 25 percent decline and accounted for almost two-thirds of the national total, RealtyTrac said.
Nevada, Arizona
Nevada had the highest rate of foreclosure filings per household for the 53rd straight month, with one in 103 getting a notice. Arizona had the second-highest rate at one in 210 and California was third at one in 259. Michigan, Utah, Georgia, Idaho, Florida, Illinois and Colorado also ranked in top 10.
Five states accounted for more than half of the U.S. filing total, led by California’s 51,906. Florida was second at 19,192 and Michigan third at 14,614. Arizona, Nevada, Illinois, Georgia, Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin rounded out the top 10.
RealtyTrac sells default data from more than 2,200 counties representing 90 percent of the U.S. population.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Levy in San Francisco at dlevy13@bloomberg.net
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Real Estate Reports
Timely, local real estate data trumps national reports
Perspective: A call for more useful real estate statistics
By David Charron, Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
Inman News™
Broad housing market reports are a dime a dozen these days, and if you ask me, that's a good approximation of their worth. Markets are sliced and diced and compared across the board, drawing multiple -- and often conflicting -- conclusions with shaky, obsolete data. The market's up, or maybe it's down. It's good, it's bad, and it's confusing.
For most people, even with access to all this information the results are more inconsistent than ever, often dated and out of context. But they don't have to be.
Timely and accurate information, provided on a local level with a real-world perspective, is the real estate market's most important commodity -- and the ability of the public, government, financial institutions, investors and real estate professionals to make informed decisions on local housing markets is the cornerstone of an eventual housing recovery.
Isn't it time we stop trying to drive by, looking in the rear-view mirror, and insist on seeing just the facts, clearly, as they unfold?
Article continues below
Advertise with Inman
Considering the critical role that real estate statistics play in just about every housing-related decision, it is time for our industry to rally around better data. We owe it to ourselves, our clients and our profession to insist on timeliness and clarity while delving into the motivations and methodologies of every metric we disseminate.
The most recent Case-Shiller Home Price Index of May 31 is a perfect example: It noted, of all the U.S. markets it tracks, the Washington, D.C., metro area as the only market to experience an increase in housing prices for the first quarter of 2011.
While this index may be useful for Wall Street, it hardly constitutes breaking news. Improving market conditions were reported three weeks earlier in an index produced by an MRIS subsidiary.
Metric discrepancies are about more than selling products or securing a reputation in the marketplace -- they go to the heart of how we think about information. The one real estate mantra that has remained unequivocally true through some of the most tumultuous years in the history of our profession is that all real estate is local.
By focusing on broad market-to-market comparisons instead of individual markets, we undercut our value as real estate professionals. Instead of chasing fleeting affirmations that change day in and day out, we should ensure that real estate professionals know how to read and apply local data.
Let's focus more on whether single-family homes or condos are more prevalent in a single area, the variance of seasonal market shifts, or the changes in sales activity that often precede major trends.
Let's talk about the facts as they stand today and refrain from basing decisions on reports that are already five to seven months behind the market when they hit newsstands.
We're never going to move forward as a profession by basing decisions on old data, and we'll never overcome paralysis if we compare our local markets to every other market in the country without considering the context of local driving forces.
Most people won't buy stocks today based solely on six-month-old research, nor will they decide what to wear today based on the average temperature in New York. Why don't the same principles apply to real estate?
David Charron is president and CEO of MRIS, the largest multiple listing service in the nation. MRIS facilitates more than $100 million a day in real estate transactions in the mid-Atlantic region.
Contact Inman News:
Email Letter to the Editor
Copyright 2011 Inman News
All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.
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Submitted by Leon d'Ancona, B.T.L., M.T.L. on June 14, 2011 - 1:29pm.
Mr. Charron is very correct. Case-Shiller is a rather narrow index based on the principal variable used for index calculation of the price change between two arms-length sales of the same single-family home. For each sales transaction, a search is conducted to acquire information on any previous sale of the same property. If an earlier transaction is found, the two are paired and considered a “repeat sales transaction”.
In the last 25 years I have found its results very rarely reflect true small city or neighborhood values.
To dispel some of the negativity of this benchmark have a look at www.happyrenews.com a free service we provide to negate the poor press of real estate values.
Leon d'Ancona, B.T.L.,M.T.L.
President/CEO IMS Incorporated
WWW.Realestatestatistics.com
Login or register to post comments
Submitted by Keith Byrd on June 14, 2011 - 1:53pm.
Consumers want facts. Our industry's image has taken a hit from all the "now is a good time to buy" comments from agents that don't have a clue what's going on in their local market. Guess it's the difference between being a Sales person that will say anything to sell a home vs. providing a Service.
In my area, the local paper writes about the local real estate market using a single piece of data from a stats company. This value is county-wide and lumps all residential properties in one bucket and is missing any foreclosure info. In my county, foreclosure rates of sold properties in cities range from 0% to 60%.
I've been reporting statistics on my website for years but it was a tedious process to gather and report the info. I recently developed an interactive tool that displays detailed info about the local market for the last 11 years. There are over 20,000 graphs of info that I now make available to consumers in an easy-to-use presentation that's updated every month.
Check em' out here:
http://www.slocountyhomes.com/dashboard.html
Keith Byrd
SloCountyHomes.com
San Luis Obispo, CA
Login or register to post comments
Submitted by C.H. Naamad on June 14, 2011 - 2:32pm.
I agree with you a 100%!!!
C.H. Naamad
Boston Luxury Residential
Cell: 617-407-9740
Ch@blrboston.com
Login or register to post comments
Submitted by Travis Wright on June 14, 2011 - 2:54pm.
Well put, David. I have seen the impressive data reports coming out of ARMLS and I bet yours are awesome, too. Here's hoping your wisdom sinks in to all MLS'. T.
Travis In Texas
travis-wright@comcast.net
Login or register to post comments
Submitted by Albert Clark on June 15, 2011 - 3:10am.
Tagging on Tip O/Neils line, All Politics is Local we know "All RealEstate is Local" We provide a unique e-newsletter service to agents and see many agents adding their local market data that is fresh and usually zip code specific. I can attest that the local data is the most widely clicked on feature in the newsletters. Everyone wants to know what's going on in their marketplace. Long and Foster provides very attractive and useful Market Minute Reports. MRIS agents (David's area) is really Amp'ing up the availability of local stats with www.rbintel.com. We show agents how to use this data as they become advocates for their clients and prospects. Local stats, at the zip and neighborhood are a powerful marketing and retention tool
Albert Clark
Home Actions Relationship Platform
Scranton, PA
570 510 3507
aclark@homeactions.net
Login or register to post comments
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+–Change Text Size: ©2011 Inman News™HomeAbout UsDaily HeadlinesAdvertiseSyndicationMembershipContact UsPress Release SubmissionSubmit a TipPrivacyLegal
Perspective: A call for more useful real estate statistics
By David Charron, Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
Inman News™
Broad housing market reports are a dime a dozen these days, and if you ask me, that's a good approximation of their worth. Markets are sliced and diced and compared across the board, drawing multiple -- and often conflicting -- conclusions with shaky, obsolete data. The market's up, or maybe it's down. It's good, it's bad, and it's confusing.
For most people, even with access to all this information the results are more inconsistent than ever, often dated and out of context. But they don't have to be.
Timely and accurate information, provided on a local level with a real-world perspective, is the real estate market's most important commodity -- and the ability of the public, government, financial institutions, investors and real estate professionals to make informed decisions on local housing markets is the cornerstone of an eventual housing recovery.
Isn't it time we stop trying to drive by, looking in the rear-view mirror, and insist on seeing just the facts, clearly, as they unfold?
Article continues below
Advertise with Inman
Considering the critical role that real estate statistics play in just about every housing-related decision, it is time for our industry to rally around better data. We owe it to ourselves, our clients and our profession to insist on timeliness and clarity while delving into the motivations and methodologies of every metric we disseminate.
The most recent Case-Shiller Home Price Index of May 31 is a perfect example: It noted, of all the U.S. markets it tracks, the Washington, D.C., metro area as the only market to experience an increase in housing prices for the first quarter of 2011.
While this index may be useful for Wall Street, it hardly constitutes breaking news. Improving market conditions were reported three weeks earlier in an index produced by an MRIS subsidiary.
Metric discrepancies are about more than selling products or securing a reputation in the marketplace -- they go to the heart of how we think about information. The one real estate mantra that has remained unequivocally true through some of the most tumultuous years in the history of our profession is that all real estate is local.
By focusing on broad market-to-market comparisons instead of individual markets, we undercut our value as real estate professionals. Instead of chasing fleeting affirmations that change day in and day out, we should ensure that real estate professionals know how to read and apply local data.
Let's focus more on whether single-family homes or condos are more prevalent in a single area, the variance of seasonal market shifts, or the changes in sales activity that often precede major trends.
Let's talk about the facts as they stand today and refrain from basing decisions on reports that are already five to seven months behind the market when they hit newsstands.
We're never going to move forward as a profession by basing decisions on old data, and we'll never overcome paralysis if we compare our local markets to every other market in the country without considering the context of local driving forces.
Most people won't buy stocks today based solely on six-month-old research, nor will they decide what to wear today based on the average temperature in New York. Why don't the same principles apply to real estate?
David Charron is president and CEO of MRIS, the largest multiple listing service in the nation. MRIS facilitates more than $100 million a day in real estate transactions in the mid-Atlantic region.
Contact Inman News:
Email Letter to the Editor
Copyright 2011 Inman News
All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.
Comments
Reprint Rights
Community Guidelines
ShareThisYou must login or register to post a comment.
Submitted by Leon d'Ancona, B.T.L., M.T.L. on June 14, 2011 - 1:29pm.
Mr. Charron is very correct. Case-Shiller is a rather narrow index based on the principal variable used for index calculation of the price change between two arms-length sales of the same single-family home. For each sales transaction, a search is conducted to acquire information on any previous sale of the same property. If an earlier transaction is found, the two are paired and considered a “repeat sales transaction”.
In the last 25 years I have found its results very rarely reflect true small city or neighborhood values.
To dispel some of the negativity of this benchmark have a look at www.happyrenews.com a free service we provide to negate the poor press of real estate values.
Leon d'Ancona, B.T.L.,M.T.L.
President/CEO IMS Incorporated
WWW.Realestatestatistics.com
Login or register to post comments
Submitted by Keith Byrd on June 14, 2011 - 1:53pm.
Consumers want facts. Our industry's image has taken a hit from all the "now is a good time to buy" comments from agents that don't have a clue what's going on in their local market. Guess it's the difference between being a Sales person that will say anything to sell a home vs. providing a Service.
In my area, the local paper writes about the local real estate market using a single piece of data from a stats company. This value is county-wide and lumps all residential properties in one bucket and is missing any foreclosure info. In my county, foreclosure rates of sold properties in cities range from 0% to 60%.
I've been reporting statistics on my website for years but it was a tedious process to gather and report the info. I recently developed an interactive tool that displays detailed info about the local market for the last 11 years. There are over 20,000 graphs of info that I now make available to consumers in an easy-to-use presentation that's updated every month.
Check em' out here:
http://www.slocountyhomes.com/dashboard.html
Keith Byrd
SloCountyHomes.com
San Luis Obispo, CA
Login or register to post comments
Submitted by C.H. Naamad on June 14, 2011 - 2:32pm.
I agree with you a 100%!!!
C.H. Naamad
Boston Luxury Residential
Cell: 617-407-9740
Ch@blrboston.com
Login or register to post comments
Submitted by Travis Wright on June 14, 2011 - 2:54pm.
Well put, David. I have seen the impressive data reports coming out of ARMLS and I bet yours are awesome, too. Here's hoping your wisdom sinks in to all MLS'. T.
Travis In Texas
travis-wright@comcast.net
Login or register to post comments
Submitted by Albert Clark on June 15, 2011 - 3:10am.
Tagging on Tip O/Neils line, All Politics is Local we know "All RealEstate is Local" We provide a unique e-newsletter service to agents and see many agents adding their local market data that is fresh and usually zip code specific. I can attest that the local data is the most widely clicked on feature in the newsletters. Everyone wants to know what's going on in their marketplace. Long and Foster provides very attractive and useful Market Minute Reports. MRIS agents (David's area) is really Amp'ing up the availability of local stats with www.rbintel.com. We show agents how to use this data as they become advocates for their clients and prospects. Local stats, at the zip and neighborhood are a powerful marketing and retention tool
Albert Clark
Home Actions Relationship Platform
Scranton, PA
570 510 3507
aclark@homeactions.net
Login or register to post comments
HeadlinesMost Recent
Fannie matches Freddie's $1,200 agent bonu...
Top 10 real estate boomtowns: 2020
Slowdown in foreclosures affecting invento...
Zillow grows database, boosts 'Zestimate'...
Timely, local real estate data trumps nati...
Loan mods a '3-ring circus'
Tuning in the right real estate marketing...
Uscapeit: Your very own Google Street View
A post-PC-era survival guide
Late to peak, Portland real estate market...
Most Comments
My first 3-digit commission check5 smart tech tools for real estate agentsWashington short-sale brokers could lose l...Timely, local real estate data trumps nati...40% of underwater borrowers took cash out...NAR objects to 'Today' show report on sale...Your Facebook business page is worthlessHourly rate: The solution to low real esta...U.S. real estate prices see slight monthly...Google +1: a social solution for search gi...Most Emailed
Washington short-sale brokers could lose l...10 Best Markets for Real Estate InvestorsReal estate pricing tips for sellersHarvard: Real estate recovery hinges on re...Staying positive in today's real estate cl...Timely, local real estate data trumps nati...Late to peak, Portland real estate market...Ultra-high-end home has motivated sellerMajor changes likely to 'qualified residen...Decoding real estate buyer preferencesCategories
Agent adviceBuying & SellingHome ImprovementInvestingInvesting & Perso...Markets & EconomyMortgagesReal Estate & Per...Real estate broke...Real estate techn...RentalsInternationalSimilar
MLSs struggle with standards, consolidation
Bruss book awards deadline extended
Housing prices climb to global heights for latest Olympics host
Miami real estate sales soar, price slump drags on
Foreclosures drag down Atlanta real estate prices
News Archive
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
+–Change Text Size: ©2011 Inman News™HomeAbout UsDaily HeadlinesAdvertiseSyndicationMembershipContact UsPress Release SubmissionSubmit a TipPrivacyLegal
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