From CNN/Money:
Foreclosure rates still soaring
Knock-on effects from risky mortgages and softening home prices show few signs of letting up; Nevada leads nation in delinquent homeowners.
By Les Christie
May 15 2007
Foreclosures continue to trouble real estate markets nationwide, with filings in April up 65 percent from a year earlier, according to a report released Tuesday.
Foreclosures were down 1 percent from March, but that may be because of an uptick in buying tied to the spring season, said James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, which released the monthly report.
“Whether the decrease in April is the beginning of a trend this year remains to be seen,” he said, “but we expect foreclosure activity to at least stay above last year’s levels for the remainder of 2007.”
Saccacio blamed the overall increase in foreclosures to a mix of risky loans taken out in the past few years and slowing gains in home prices. Soft home prices make it difficult for troubled borrowers to bail out of their loans by quickly selling their properties.
(FYI, April foreclosures fell 10% between March and April of last year)
From Reuters:
U.S. April foreclosures dip 1 percent-RealtyTrac
U.S. home foreclosures fell to 147,708 in April down 1 percent from a two-year high set in March, with some of the once-hottest markets topping the list, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Tuesday.
The latest figure, a sum of default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, was 62 percent higher than a year ago, RealtyTrac said.
…
“Whether the decrease in April is the beginning of a similar trend this year remains to be seen, but we expect foreclosure activity to at least stay above last year’s levels for the remainder of 2007, fueled by a combustible mix of risky loans taken out in the last few years –many in the subprime market — and slowing home price appreciation,” Saccacio said.
The End of The Realtor’s 6% (part 1)
Watch: http://www.paperdinero.com/BNN.aspx?id=183
60 Minute’s Lesley Stahl chronicles the NAR’s 600 “pound gorilla”, namely the fact that in the age of the internet, traditional Realtors and real estate agents services are akin to the buggy whip. Try as they might to justify the need for a Realtor, the times they are a changing for the real estate industry and NARs vicious grip will soon be broken. Ahh.. Technology!
Originally aired on: 5/13/2007 on 60 Minutes
Running Time: 13 minutes 17 seconds