More than half of total home sales in Grand Rapids, Michigan in June were foreclosed home listing sales or short sales, based on real estate sales data in Michigan.
Out of the 1,081 houses sold in June, 53 percent were foreclosed home listing properties or homes sold through short sales.
Additionally, more than 25 percent of total homes sold in June were priced below $50,000. In June 2007, only seven percent of total homes sold were priced below $50,000.
The low level of foreclosed home listing prices has pushed down the average home price in Grand Rapids to $113,923, a 13-percent decline from the average price in June 2008. The June drop however is much less than each of the annual drops in the first 5 months of 2009, which ranged from 17 percent to 29 percent.
Real estate analysts in the area said they are hopeful the slowdown in the pace of price decline is a positive signal, in addition to the decreasing number of days a foreclosed residential property stays in a foreclosed home listing.
They said home inventory in the area have dropped from 13 months to about ten months worth of inventory.
However, housing analysts are concerned about expectations for more foreclosed home listing properties in the coming months, as discussed in a recent report issued by the Treasury Department.
Some brokers in the area said that banks have told them they are going to release large volumes of foreclosed properties in the third and fourth quarters.
Michigan is among the ten U.S. states most clobbered by foreclosures. In May, it is sixth in charts of state foreclosure rates, with one house in every 326 housing units hit with a foreclosure action. Out of nearly 14,000 foreclosure filings in May, 6,246 properties were already in foreclosure listings while the rest were already for trustee sales.
This week, the Obama administration has expanded its Making Home Affordable program to help more troubled homeowners, especially those with underwater mortgages, but many homeowners now doubt the effectiveness of the new provision of the program.
Many homeowners have been complaining that their lenders have not been responding to their applications for modification and refinancing despite connecting with certified counselors.
Because of barriers to the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program, housing analysts contend that more houses will be added to foreclosed home listing inventories in the coming months.
Comments on this entry are closed.