Foreclosed listing home prices have been slowly rising in Atlanta, despite the continued rise in foreclosure filings in the Atlanta, Marietta and Sandy Springs area.

According to a Seattle-based real estate research firm that monitors home prices nationwide, home prices in Atlanta rose by 2.6 percent in the July to September quarter compared to the previous three-month period. Prices though dropped when compared to the same three-month period in 2008, but the decrease rate is low at 2.8 percent.

Economists say that home price levels in the coming months will be crucial because they will indicate whether the market is really recovering or still in stagnation.

The best performing market in Atlanta during the quarter was Oxford, where home prices increased by a significant 25 percent over the past 12 months. Next was Walton County, where home prices rose by 20 percent.

Other areas of metro Atlanta however are still struggling. In Jonesboro, Lake City and Forest Park, house prices dropped by over 37 percent.

Compared to other metro areas, the Atlanta metro area ranked 53rd in a home price improvement chart for 156 large metropolitan areas tracked by the real estate firm.

Meanwhile, another real estate research firm reported that around 2.6 percent of houses in the Atlanta metro area are in default or in foreclosure and that many of these ultimately go into foreclosed listing home inventories. But the foreclosure rate in the area is still below the national average rate.

The increase in home prices was also observed by Standard & Poor’s and Case-Shiller. Their 20-city home price index for August showed an annualized increase of nearly 7 percent, marking the third consecutive month of continued recovery. The index reading increased by one percent from the previous month to 144.5.

While home prices dropped by 11.4 percent compared to August 2008, the rate of annual declines have been slowing down since February. The home price index by Standard & Poor’s for metro Atlanta rose by one percent from the previous month of July to 111.19.

It will be seen in the coming months how the rise in foreclosure filings in the July to September quarter will affect foreclosed listing home price levels in metro Atlanta. During this quarter, nearly 25,000 houses in the Atlanta metro area were notified of defaults or foreclosures, representing 1.2 percent of all residential units in the area.

Homebuyers and investors find foreclosure listings the most convenient and fastest way to choose and buy foreclosure properties. Now they have more foreclosure listings to choose from as two cities in Idaho have become the new hot spots for foreclosures. This means that bargain-priced properties are now flooding the Idaho market.

Recent market data showed that housing markets in Boise and Nampa in Idaho are the new hot spots of foreclosures in the country. The biggest year-over-year foreclosure rate increases across the country occurred in the area of Boise and Nampa and Utah cities of Provo, Orem and Salt Lake.

Industry experts said that prospective buyers find foreclosure listings in Boise and Nampa loaded with low-priced deals. In the third quarter, foreclosure rate in the area rose by a whopping 142 percent compared with the same period last year.

So far, there were 4,157 foreclosed homes in the housing market of Boise/Nampa. The rising unemployment is the major factor being blamed for the growing foreclosures in the area. But industry analysts are hoping that the slight improvement in the labor market figures would be a start towards the recovery of the local economy and the housing market.

In September, the seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment in the state declined to 8.8 percent. On the other hand, the national unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percentage point while the economy continued to be sluggish and unresponsive to efforts to revive it.

The Obama Administration accredited the drop in the unemployment rate in Idaho on the nearly 2,103 jobs saved or created through the help of the federal stimulus funds. The federal government has been aggressive in its campaign to help stave off foreclosures across the country, launching programs such as loan modification and Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

It also intensified its efforts to address the growing unemployment rate. However, U.S. Timothy Geithner said that the stimulus program is just beginning to show some results, adding that it would take some considerable amount of time for jobs to be created and unemployment to descend from its current rate.

On its part, Idaho provided about $504 million worth of supplemental and extended unemployment insurance benefits. For the meantime, buyers can continue to find foreclosure listings with good deals in Idaho as more and more homeowners walk away from their properties that are worth less than the total mortgage they owed.

The Oakland County in Michigan has received a grant to support efforts to trim down the number of foreclosure homes on real estate listing. The almost $17 million multi-year grant has been awarded to the Community and Economic Development Department.

Under the program, the agency will use the grant to help homeowners who are struggling to remain in their houses. The federal stimulus funds are made possible under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which was enacted to alleviate the impact of the worldwide economic downturn which started last year.

The Obama Administration believed that the federal funds would help prevent a disastrous financial collapse and restore economic growth. The law appropriated total funding of $787 billion, with nearly one-third allotted for tax cuts to small businesses and individuals. The remaining funds are distributed to various local governments, county and state agencies.

In Michigan, the federal funds were able to help cities, villages, townships and counties. So far, 13 agencies in Michigan have received fund allocation to start several projects, create jobs and develop infrastructure. As of September 30, over $9.3 billion in federal stimulus funds were allocated to Michigan recipients.

On its part, Oakland County received almost $280 million, a portion of which is used on initiatives that will reduce the number of foreclosure properties on real estate listing.

Some Michigan agencies that received shares from the $3.6 billion grant are education with $2.7 billion, $1.6 billion for infrastructure, $1.7 billion for energy projects, $1.06 billion for health care, $626 million for human services, $234 million for work force development, $141 million for public safety and $62 million for projects related to natural resources.

Additionally as much as $150 million has been received by the county for bond authorization. Meanwhile, the county will receive multi-year grants for four years targeting repossession activity.

County officials said that majority of grants are not direct funding but cost reimbursement. The procedure involves the county getting the grants and allocating it to various projects before it could be reimbursed.

Private and public schools across the county have received about $157 million while the Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency received $11.5 million for programs related to home weatherization.
Industry experts said that the federal stimulus funds will go a long in helping various initiatives in Michigan, particularly the effort to reduce the number of foreclosed homes on real estate listing.

A foreclosure list is a powerful tool that is used by both savvy investors and seasoned homebuyers. If you are looking for a low-cost foreclosed home, you may want to use a foreclosure list as well. Foreclosed property listings, as their name suggests, are a database or list of available foreclosed homes. Buyers can easily consult these lists to find the properties that interest them.

There are many advantages to using a list of foreclosed homes. One of the best reasons to use a foreclosed property list is time. Few investors and buyers have the time to go out and research various distressed properties. A good list offers you all the available properties in your area, so that you can spend your time looking for promising properties instead of researching from scratch.

Good lists include pre-foreclosures, REO (real estate owned properties), HUD homes, and other types of distressed properties, giving you a one-stop resource for various property types. Without lists, you might have to consult several resources to find the information you need. Most good lists even offer you full contact details for each property, so that you can easily and quickly find the sellers of the homes that interest you. This saves you even more time, since it allows you to quickly reach the people you need to speak with about a specific property.

Time is of the essence if you are looking for foreclosed homes. Many foreclosure properties are sold at below market value and therefore tend to sell much more quickly than traditional property. Very good foreclosure bargains, especially, tend to sell fast. A good foreclosure list saves you time, so that you can find properties that are still available. A good foreclosure list is simply your best tool when shopping for properties.

The county of Lebanon in Pennsylvania has received a Neighborhood Revitalization Grant to buy from foreclosed properties listings. The $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will finance the purchase of foreclosed properties that blighted several neighborhoods in the city.

Already, the county had acquired two foreclosure homes totaling $70,000. It is expected that the cost of renovating these houses will be equal or higher.

The grant to buy from foreclosed properties listings is part of the 787 billion dollars economic stimulus package under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The economic stimulus initiative is designed to soften the blow of the economic downturn which is viewed as the worst since the period of the Great Depression.

The law, which was enacted on February 17, allows the distribution of federal funds to help create jobs. The breakdown of funds includes $288 billion for tax incentives and cuts to various people and businesses, $82 billion for social entitlement programs and $144 billion to boost state finances.

The remaining $273 billion are used by federal agencies to award grants, loans and contracts across the country to organizations, schools, municipalities and business. The county of Lebanon has received over $39 million of the economic stimulus fund.

On its part, the Lebanon County Housing Authority received a total of $835,000 as its share in the economic stimulus package. The amount is more than the regular annual budget of $600,000 that the housing authority used to receive.

Industry experts said that HUD is very efficient in distributing the federal funds immediately. They said that the Lebanon housing authority has used up the federal funds quickly because it has a bucketful of projects that are just waiting for funds before it could take off.

Some of the projects where the housing authority used the economic stimulus funds are window replacements, installation of security cameras and repaving of parking lots at senior apartments. The remaining $300,000 is allotted to be used in either replacing the windows at the Washington Arms or restoring the bell at the Stevens Tower.

Industry experts believe that buying from foreclosed properties listings would help greatly in improving and stabilizing home prices in neighborhoods badly hit by the foreclosure crisis.

The Rhode Island Foundation has directed $30,000 worth of funds to the Community House Land Trust of R.I. to support the conversion of properties on foreclosure list into affordable houses.

The fund is part of the almost $4.5 million grant that the foundation will distribute this year to support various economic and community development efforts. Aside from converting properties on foreclosure list to affordable houses, the foundation will also distribute $1.15 million to various projects such as $50,000 to fund job training at the Amos House and $60,000 to help Crossroads Rhode Island to promote employment readiness and job skills among underemployed and homeless adults.

Furthermore, the foundation will also provide $50,000 for regional workforce development initiative of the Newport Skills Alliance. Additionally, grants were also awarded to the following areas; $897,550 for education, $806,308 for health, $513,000 for arts and culture and $773,000 for human services.

Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Neil D. Steinberg said that the organization has the responsibility to strategically plan its grant investments because of its limited resources. But still, the total grants received by the foundation rose by 1 percent in 2009 despite the recession. All in all, 107 grants were awarded by the foundation, with $75,000 as the largest.

For the development of community and economy, a total of $1,145,000 grant was awarded, including $50,000 going to Amos House, $30,000 to Aquidneck Island Planning Commission, $12,000 to The ARC of Northern Bristol County, $30,000 for Community Housing Land Trust of R.I., $40,000 for Corporation to Supportive Housing/New England Program, $60,000 to Crossroads Rhode Island and $65,000 to Dorcas Place Adult and Family Learning Center which provides assistance to immigrant professionals.

For education, a total of $897,550 were awarded, including $45,000 to Brown University for the study of how suburban and urban students choose their career and education paths, $40,000 to the City Year Rhode Island, $25,000 to The College Crusade of Rhode Island, $40,000 to The Compass School in Kingston, $30,000 to Cranston School Department for its program at the Construction Career Academy in the New England Laborer and $30,000 to The Greene School for the establishment of a public charter secondary school.

Industry experts are hopeful that the grants will help contain the number of properties on foreclosure list which has grown alarmingly due to recession and the rising unemployment rate.

Listings of foreclosure homes throughout the country are now including more and more high-end homes, based on data from an online real estate research firm.

Approximately 30 percent of all foreclosures in June were expensive homes that belong to the top third in graphs of local home values. This percentage marked a substantial increase from 16 percent in 2006.

Currently, the bottom third in home values account for 35 percent of all foreclosures, a drop from the 55 percent share in 2006.

Analysts observed that foreclosures declined a little early this year, but they increased over the spring, with more high-priced homes in foreclosure listings. The growth in expensive homes being foreclosed was slow in the first months of the year, but in recent months, the pace of foreclosures in the high-end sector has been increasing.

In many areas of the country, housing markets have been showing some signs of recovery as shown in the increase in home prices, decline in foreclosures, increase in home sales and increase in new homes built and sold.

But the continued rise in unemployment and the collapse of many businesses have been hindering recovery and have instead pushed up further the number of homes entering listings of foreclosure homes.

Additionally, the number of foreclosures in higher-cost communities continues to increase, adding pressure to the housing market which is struggling to rise up.

According to reports from the Mortgage Bankers Association, homes purchased with prime loans comprised 58 percent of foreclosure filings in the April to June quarter, an increase from 44 percent during the same quarter last year. Homes bought with subprime loans accounted for around 33 percent of all foreclosure filings in the same quarter, a drop from 50 percent during the same quarter in 2008.

Many prime borrowers also took out risky payment arrangements, similar to the interest-only options taken out by borrowers in the lower-priced home category. These prime borrowers deferred their principal payments, thinking they would be able to refinance just before the scheduled adjustments start.

The sharp decline in home values however blocked all these refinancing plans, making homes bought with interest-only adjustable rate mortgage loans among the category with the highest default rates.

According to Fitch Ratings, 46 percent of option ARMs became delinquent in September, even though only 12 percent of these loans have adjusted to higher rates and monthly payments.

With almost 25 percent of all homes underwater as of the second quarter, more homes are expected to enter listings of foreclosure homes.

The private sector coalition of nonprofit counselors, investors, mortgage servicers and insurers, released a report showing that the foreclosure prevention activity nationwide improved by almost 20 percent in July 2009 compared with the same month in 2007.

HOPE NOW said that about 1.77 million properties were saved from foreclosure house listings in the first seven months of this year. The organization said that the improvement indicated that many homeowners were able to work out solutions that allowed them to avoid foreclosures.

Additionally, the organization said that the improvement in the foreclosure prevention activity indicated a trend towards a reduction in the number of foreclosure starts and sales, adding that workout solutions are starting to pick up pace.

On its press statement, the organization said that members of HOPE NOW and the mortgage industry are providing help to more distressed borrowers to avoid foreclosures. The organization admitted that there is still more work to be done but that its members and partners are responding to the increasing challenge.

According to market data, the number of foreclosure starts rose to 283,682 in July from 251,340 in June. But the number of actual foreclosures dropped to 89,173 from 92,661.

Meanwhile, despite efforts of the mortgage industry to paint a rosy picture for the housing market, some factors are trying to dampen the progress made towards recovery. In July, the number of homeowners who were delinquent on their monthly mortgage payments increased, indicating that foreclosure prevention efforts should be improved in the foreseeable future to help prevent the rising foreclosure rates.

Homeowners who were more than 2 months behind on their mortgage payments rose by 5.9 percent. The increase indicated that about 3.1 million homeowners are now delinquent on their loan payments and are on the brink of foreclosure.

On a positive note, HOPE NOW executive director Faith Schwartz said that in July, more than 253,000 troubled homeowners were able to avoid foreclosures through loan modifications, while sales of foreclosure homes rose.

She said that the positive developments are indications of the mortgage industry’s commitment to help distressed people find solutions to remain in their homes.

HOPE NOW has intensified its efforts to reach distressed homeowners with forums that will give them a chance to meet face to face with mortgage servicers.

The commercial property mortgage industry is starting to heat up as lenders are trying to protect their investments from the expected flood of troubled mortgages reaching maturities.

Mezzanine loan holders are exercising their options to force overleveraged owners into foreclosure listings in an effort to gain control of the troubled properties. Similarly, real-estate investment trusts (REIT), asset managers, private equity firms, investors and other players holding mezzanine distressed loans have been raising funds to purchase senior positions in mortgage debts.

Some mortgage REITs went public expecting a wave of foreclosure home investors and low interest government financing made available to investors who are willing to purchase mortgage loans held by banks.

According to industry experts, the estimated $100 billion outstanding mezzanine loans and B-notes are just a fraction of the nearly $3.5 trillion outstanding commercial mortgages in the country. But the market has caused disputes between senior and junior mortgage servicers holding small shares.

Experts added that the market has grown big and complex since the straight loan structures in early 1990s. They explained that mezzanine lenders’ intervention is just a natural way for the market to dispose of troubled assets.

Experts observed that early this year, mezzanine lenders were not entitled for ownership position. But now, they are pushing out debt equity operators in troubled properties as part of the repossession process.

This only means that the equity has been completely wiped out, according to experts. They added that mezzanine lenders are intensifying their efforts to solidify their ownerships as part of their strategy while trying to wait out for the value to recover.

Recently, there have been notable foreclosure deals in the commercial property industry, including hotels, retails, offices, mixed-used properties and condominiums.

One major foreclosure deal involved mezzanine lenders Five Mile Capital Partners and Normandy Real Estate Partners. They took over the John Hancock Tower in Los Angeles, California after acquiring discounted shares of the troubled debt.

In another deal, Fortress Investment Group acquired the condominium project, Sheffield57 for about $20 million through a mezzanine foreclosure auction. Credit Suisse First Boston took ownership of the first mortgage worth $400 million followed by Guggenheim Structured Real Estate Partners LLC for nearly $240 million in mezzanine loan.

And just this month, Wachovia Bank filed a foreclosure action against BF Las Olas and BentleyForbes Holdings, developers of the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Las Olas Center.

Franklin City, one of the hardest hit communities in Virginia by foreclosures, has been given a chance to alleviate the effects of the problem. It has received a grant that will allow it to buy from home foreclosure listing.

The $400,000 grant award received by Franklin is part of the federal $9.4 million Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) aimed at helping communities across Virginia buy, renovate and sell foreclosure houses. This grant will allow Franklin to turn abandoned and foreclosed houses into affordable housing.

According to industry experts, the city of Franklin originally requested for a grant of $503,519.91 but only received $400,000. They believed that the amount awarded would not the limit as long as the city can keep producing. They pointed out that the fund reduction may be due to the decline in property values since Franklin first applied for the grant.

Experts said that under the county’s program, the funds will be used to buy abandoned and foreclosed houses at discounted prices, then renovate them and finally, sell them to families who are low and medium-income earners.

The city is mandated to spend the grant within a year upon the receipt of money. It must also profit from the sales, proceeds of which will be returned to the state which in turn would evaluate the needs of the community for additional assistance.
Industry experts described the funding arrangement as similar to a revolving loan fund which will be returned to the state for
reallocation based on the need.

Experts recalled that when Franklin applied for the grant, the city has already four prospective foreclosure properties for the program These properties are located in Oldtown and Meadowbrook neighborhoods. City officials are planning to start the initiative as soon as possible now that they have received notification.

As part of the initiative, the city is planning to recruit an appraiser for foreclosure properties. Buyers who are eligible for the program will be required to attend and complete homeownership education.

Furthermore, homeowners who are low and medium-income earners will not only have a chance to purchase foreclosed houses at low prices but also qualify for assistance for deposit and closing cost under the grant program, HOME.

Currently, Virginia has over 28,000 properties in some kind of foreclosure proceedings, with 16,000 foreclosed or standing a vacant.