Why would mortgage servicers rather foreclose than modify?
Because it is more profitable! The companies servicing loans typically will make more money foreclosing on a loan versus modifying it; giving the servicers very little incentive to help out owners. An article to a CNBC artile outlining the details follows:
Why Banks Are Reluctant To Redo Ailing Mortgages
More than one million homes are likely to be repossessed by the end of the year, making up roughly one-quarter of all US homes for sale.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/27406627/
Stockton’s average price per square foot down to $97 in September!
The average price per square foot in Stockton has fallen to $97. This compares to $176 a square foot last year at the same time. The trend is not looking positive as more REO inventory is expected. Prices are significantly below replacement cost.
Hold on folks it may be a bumpy ride!
I am attending REOMAC – a conference for lenders, mortgage servicers, title and real estate professionals involved in selling bank owned properties. Very enlightening. General consensus is that we are 1/3 of the way through the cycle and a turnaround is not expected until 2012 – 22013. Keynote economist suggests prices in California are still too high. Prices will fall until the average wage owner can afford an average home.
New wave of foreclosed properties set to hit market in October
The housing bill did away with Buyer’s Assistance Programs effective 10/1/08. As a result, the bank asset managers were focusing on closing pending transactions in September and let the processing of new foreclosure properties slide. We’re seeing a flurry of activity now as the asset managers play catch-up. Look for a new wave of foreclosures by midmonth!
Green Lawns for Everyone…
Check out this story on how the city of Stockton is paying Nick Terlouw to paint abandoned homes… well, 
not the homes but the lawns of the homes….Green. It adds curb appeal, and makes the house look more lived in, for $200, per lawn…
and I still fertilize, and weed, and garden? I am so old fashioned!!
Stockton Ranks Number One…
According to RealtyTrac, Stockton, California reported the highest foreclosure rate among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas from Jan to Jun 2007, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure sales. Detroit and Las Vegas documented the next highest foreclosure rates. RealtyTrac’s 2007 Midyear Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report showed the foreclosure activity in the top 100 metro areas for the first half of 2007. As foreclosure rates continue to rise, 82 out of 100 metro areas recorded year-over-year increases in foreclosures.
Stockton reported one foreclosure filing for every 27 households with a total of 8,169 foreclosure fillings on 4,239 properties. The rate of foreclosure has increased exponentially to three times more than the number reported last year, for the same period.
Detroit, with one in 29 households going for foreclosure, recorded the second highest foreclosure rate. A total of 28,705 foreclosure filings were made on 20,231 properties, which is almost double the number reported from Jan-June 2006.
