Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Foreclosure rate sinking fast
We’ve tabulated some encouraging news for those who have weathered the mortgage housing crisisover the past 10 years (pretty much all of us). It turns out that the number of foreclosures in the US fell to their lowest level in 2015 since the original crisis of 2006 began. According to a report recently released by CoreLogic, December of 2015 marks 50 straight months of foreclosure inventory declines.
In evaluating a one year span from January 2015 through December 2015, we can see a significant drop of 23.8 percent in national foreclosures (568,000 vs. 433,000 foreclosures respectively). There was even a drop of 59 percent in the state of Maryland, leading the country with the largest decline in foreclosures.
CoreLogic reports the top 5 states with the highest foreclosure numbers account for more than half of all foreclosures across the country.
Crediting steady jobs and a stronger economy, Dan Ham-
mell, a professor of urban geography at the University of Toledo states, “We’re finally through the worst of it.” We have also seen housing prices increase as well as more stringent lending policies from banks and lending institutions. “We expect to see foreclosure and (mortgage) delinquency rates continue to decline in 2016,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. Nationally, the percentage of mortgages in serious delinquency is at 3.2 percent.
Although, the news isn’t great for everyone. As the foreclosure market improves, the factors that have aided its recovery are also hindering some buyers. Dan Hammel states hard hit neighborhoods that suffered greatly from widespread foreclosures are still struggling to recover. “Banks aren’t lending in low- and moderateincome areas where there were a lot of foreclosures,” Hammel said.
Many working and middle class buyers with poor credit, or buyers with no credit are struggling to gain mortgage approval.
The top reasons that banks repossess homes is still because owners lose their jobs or their income is cut, said Douglas Robinson, a spokesman for NeighborWorks America, a Washington, DC-based affordable housing organization.
Lessons have been learned since the foreclosure haywire of 2006. A rep from Realtor.com
recommends that “those struggling to make their mortgage payments should seek out assistance as quickly as possible; denial and wait-and-see mindsets are dangerous. Sometimes a mortgage modification or refinancing can resolve the problem. Even a short sale can be preferable to a foreclosure.”
Maureen Hughes is the Lead Listing Specialist of The Wayne Megill Real Estate Team of Keller Williams Brandywine Valley in West Chester. For buyer or seller representation, or for more perspective on the local and national real estate market, please email maureenhughes@kw.com and visit The Wayne Megill Team site at http://www.waynemegillteam.com.