Distressed Properties Sale Articles

September home sales in Florida rose significantly making it 13 months of consecutive sales increases in the state. And cheap foreclosed house sales continued to have a sizable share in the total home sales.

Last month, year-to-year home sales increased by 34 percent to 14,419 compared with 10,778 in the same month the previous year. Also, home sales in September represented a 4.1 percent increase compared with August sales activity.

On the other hand, market data showed that sales of condominiums across the state rose by 77 percent last month from the same month a year ago. September condominium sales also represented an 8.9 percent increase over the total number of houses sold in August.

All metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in Florida posted home sales increases last month. Similarly, condominium sales also increased in all MSAs except one. According to market data, majority of Florida MSAs reported sales increases for 15 straight months.

Meanwhile, the median home sales price in Florida dropped to $142,000 last month from a year ago $174,900, representing a 19 percent decline. Housing analysts said that cheap foreclosed house sales remained to be the major contributor in home sales gains.

They said that foreclosure properties pulled down home prices and values in the state. However, low-priced houses are what attracted first-time buyers to flock to the state and use their federal tax credit of $8,000 to make home purchases.

Nationwide, the median sales price for single-family houses was $177,500 in August, a drop of 12.1 percent compared with the previous year. Massachusetts posted median resale price of $315,000, $292,960 in California, $205,000 in New York and $265,862 in Maryland.

Industry experts note several positive signs pointing towards a housing market recovery. Foremost of these signs is the rising home sales in several areas in the country where foreclosure rates are high.

They believed that extending and expanding the federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers would greatly help in stabilizing home prices and expediting the recovery of the housing market. They pointed out that the federal tax credit is the best housing recovery program so far of the Obama Administration.

They added that the program not only encouraged homeownership but also help reduce the number of cheap foreclosed house that is glutting the market and affecting home prices and values.

The increasing number of foreclosed property on sale has undermined the progress made for the Western region recovery, according to the September 2009 Federal Reserve Board’s San Francisco, California unit’s report on the regional economic conditions. The regional study is conducted by the agency eight times in one year.

According to the report, there was a significant improvement in the housing demand, albeit at a slow pace. The trend in the housing market was a remarkable contrast to the commercial real estate market which is eroding further.

Home sales have been increasing in some parts of the Western region, accompanied by increases in home prices. However, the report noted that the momentum of the real estate market recovery has been hindered by continuing increases in the number of foreclosed property on sale. The increasing foreclosure rates are being blamed for slowing the drop in the inventory of homes on the market for sale.

Because of the abundant supply of cheap foreclosure properties on the market, new home construction rate is slow to pick up throughout the region. Noting the trend, industry experts said that there is no or little possibility that the construction industry will experience a resurgence of activity in the near future.

Meanwhile, in the commercial real estate market, conditions continued to grow worse as demand for industrial and office space drop further and financings for new development projects and purchases remained at a standstill.

In its July report, the agency noted that conditions in the housing markets in the Western region was very weak but was showing significant signs of improvement. Even then, the report already noted the deteriorating condition in the commercial real estate market. In the same report, sales prices for existing and new houses drop further in many areas in the region while activity in the housing construction sector remained at historic low levels.

Nationwide, market data showed that the number of foreclosure filings increased by 5 percent in the third quarter of this year. This means that 937,840 homeowners received at least one foreclosure filing during the period.

In September, 343,638 foreclosed property on sale were reported, a decline of 4 percent from August but an increase of 29 percent from September of the previous year.

The housing market has not yet recovered from the devastating effects of the foreclosure crisis and already, another bleak prognosis is coming its way again. Industry experts are predicting that the continuing increase in the number of cheap foreclosed houses for sale will pull down home prices further to a record low.

Many residents of Spring Garden Township in York County, Pennsylvania took time to attend a sheriff’s sale. However, they were not there to make a bid for foreclosure property for sale but to listen to York County Sheriff Richard P. Keuerleber as he gave out details about local properties on the market for sale.

A market study indicated that first-time buyers are rushing to find foreclosure properties to purchase and complete the sale deal before the end of November, the deadline given by the federal government for them to buy properties with the help of the $8,000 tax credit.

Buying a foreclosed house for sale in Texas is a good investment option as home prices are expected to fall further because of the rising number of homeowners getting hit with default and foreclosure notices, based on data from an Addison-based real estate research firm.

Expect more cheap foreclosed properties in the coming months. This is the bleak prognosis given by economists and executives who attended the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) annual conference in San Diego, California. They said that unemployment has replaced subprime mortgage as the main factor driving up default rates.

Foreclosure properties on sale are spreading across New York City and tenants of apartments that have been foreclosed on are suffering the most.

Christopher Thornberg, one of the top economists who predicted the crisis in the housing market, said that the number of foreclosure property for sale will continue to increase. At the fourth annual conference of Newwest.net, Thornberg said that the economic recovery has started but it will be a long way before it stabilizes and achieves a total recovery.

Cheap foreclosed homes for sale are in abundance in Florida, based on data from an online real estate research firm.