RealtyTrac released the year-end data from their 2005 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report on Monday, showing a 25% increase in nationwide foreclosures over the year.
“Overall U.S. foreclosure numbers climbed steadily over the course of the year, with more new foreclosures reported in every quarter,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “This trend appears to be moving the real estate foreclosure market back to its historic levels.”
Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the 10 highest nationwide were Georgia, Arizona, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio and Tennessee. All of these state documented annual foreclosure rates of at least 1 percent of total households and reported new foreclosures increasing from the first quarter to the fourth quarter.
New Jersey Forclosures – 2005
Q1 6482
Q2 9165
Q3 5991
Q4 13487
Total 35125 (108% Increase)
More than 1 in 100 New Jersey homes were in some state of foreclosure last year. The spike in Q4 should be a good indicator of the recent trend. As prices fall and rates increase or adjust the figure will only grow higher.
Caveat Emptor!
Grim
How does one buy foreclosures without dealing with conartist in the process?
How does one buy foreclosures without dealing with conartist in the process?
Additionally, what are the pros and cons of buying a foreclosure?
We’ll be close to 2% in the next year if numbers stay inline with Q4. If those numbers uptick? Most certainly right through the 2% mark.
grim
I have a family member that bought some and it can be a pain for the profit. But the real impact will be on the market. Right now banks are taking the homes and sending them to realtors, but if there prices start dropping it will be easy to get them.
Again, the bigger picture is the issue here. The price issues will be at the lower end and at the folks that got one of the big houses and cannot keep up with the payments. Therefore, all housing will have downward movement ala the 80s in NJ.
Now, between job cuts, interest rates , and the movement of people out of the NNJ area this will see more price changes in the future.
If we get back to 2000 price levels that will create a lot of mad people. Most are new buyers, low end buyers, and those that are leveraged to the sky.
Just my thoughts.
CDF
These are very scary numbers – It looks like a majority of the northeast is screwed from the %change stat. Seems every state except Maine, PA, VT, NH are in triple digit increases.
One problem I have always thought of when thinking of buying forclosure is that if they did not have enough to pay the mortgage, they certainly did not have enough to upkeep the house. I am not sure how much that matters over the short term, but i would still be a little leary
buying foreclosures is best left to professionals. they buy in bulk and can afford to take occassional losses because they are diversified. it’s too risky for the average person because of a lack of available info on the properties
There are too many scams that surround the foreclosure business, thus I wouldn’t recommend anyone try it unless they personally know an insider that can show them the ropes. Otherwise you’ll be likely just be contributing to someone elses get rich quick scheme.
So why do I post information on forclosure stats?
Inside Trac on housing
Q: What does the rise in foreclosures predict about New York City housing prices in the year to come?
A: They don’t predict — foreclosures aren’t leading indicators, or lagging indicators, either. They’re confirming indicators.
Q: What’s a confirming indicator?
A: It validates the real estate appreciation or depreciation in an area. To the extent housing prices are going up, you’ll see lower foreclosure rates — because people have the wherewithal to cure the default, through refinancing or the sale of their home.
-Grim
This weekend I saw open houses that were in foreclosure – the first time I have seen that. Usually they get snapped up before they get to open houses.
HAH! Typical of a property salesman (ie: real estate broker) trying to cash in by seeing how many people will bid on a foreclosed home.
-Richie
I buy foreclosure homes and the market is heating up for sure. I get more responses to my marketing postcards than I did in June 05.
The best way to buy a house in foreclosure is to deal with the bank and get them to agree to a short sale. This allows you to buy the property at below market value (a discount), gets the owner off the hook, and makes the bank happy that it doesn’t have a defaulting loan.
Tom – “D”igital Breakfast