Home sales are following a rising pattern for the first six months of this year. Thanks to Jacksonville foreclosure homes which accounted for 50 percent of the total homes sales in the area.
According to market data, nearly 50 percent of the total home sales were real-estate owned (REO) or short sales, properties that are sold for less than the total amount of mortgage that homeowners owed to their lenders.
A study of the impact of REO sales on overall home sales in various states showed that 35 percent are bank-owned. The percentage is in line with the 37 percent posted in Duval County. But the figures for Duval County do not include short sales or other distressed sales.
At a minimum, foreclosure sales in the county were 37 percent during the first six months of 2009. Currently, the 1,497 Jacksonville foreclosure sales are all under contract and pending bank approval. Out of these figures, 408 were short sales. The figures indicated that short sales accounted for 27 percent of the total pending sales and 12 percent of successful home sales.
Industry experts said that the figures for short sales would have been greater if lenders are not delaying the process. They said that currently, potential buyers could not get short sales. They claimed that one of the reasons why home prices are dropping significantly is because of the inability of lenders to approve short sales immediately.
Experts pointed out that because of the popularity of short sales among homeowners, the method is straining the financial system. They added that whatever improvements lenders make in short sales processing is going to push up the number of short sales deals.
Meanwhile, experts said that short sales offer benefits to lenders. They said that lenders can save money and time by completing short sale deals. The Obama Administration has offered to provide financial incentives to encourage lenders and banks to intensify their short sale initiatives
They explained that there is pressure for banks and lenders to process short sale deals because of the continuous decline in home values which put many homeowners in Jacksonville in a very precarious situation in which they owed more on their mortgage than the total value of their properties.
As of July, 39.5 percent of homeowners in Duval County owed more to their lenders than the total worth of their properties.
Related Posts:
- None Found
Comments on this entry are closed.