Buyers are taking advantage of the cheap prices of condominiums in Florida’s foreclosure listings as more and more condo units got sold in the past few months. Sales of condo units surged in November of this year by 2% from one year ago.

The increase may not be much, but based on the current condition of the real estate market, a two percent rise in sales is actually a significant improvement. The surge in activities in the selling market proves that Florida is still one of the most favored areas among real estate buyers.

Retreating prices fueling demand

The primary reason cited by analysts for the revitalized condo market in Florida is the price. Units in foreclosure listing are being offered at highly discounted rates and these prices are expected to decline further in the coming year as sellers become more realistic with their expectations.

The low prices of properties are worrying some market observers since bargain prices will not do much for the recovery of the housing sector. However, prices are also the reason why buyers have re-entered the real estate market.

Double-edged impact of foreclosure home listings

It is true that the low prices of foreclosed real estate are holding back the housing market from a full recovery, but they are also positive in such a way that they speed up the sale of excess properties. And for now, reducing the supply of distressed real estate should be the main goal.

Analysts have predicted that foreclosures will delay the recovery of the housing industry, but these foreclosed properties are also the reason behind investors and independent buyers' interest in real estate. With foreclosure listings projected to expand further in 2012, expect more buyers to come into the market to take advantage of the huge discounts. This may push prices down further, but it will also help the market get rid of excess inventories.

Owners of single family homes and other residential properties who are facing potential foreclosures in Kansas City, Missouri and who have loans owned by Marshall & Ilsley Corp. heaved a sigh of relief following news that the bank is extending its moratorium on foreclosures in the area. The moratorium was initially put in place in December 18, 2008.

Those who own properties in list of Kansas City home foreclosures for sale and have loans with M&I at the same time will get a chance to work out an alternative as the bank continues its Homeowner Assistance Program. Reports revealed that the moratorium on foreclosures cover all owner-occupied housing loans whose holders have agreed to work with the bank to come up with a repayment agreement that will help save their properties.

The moratorium also covers all Missouri home foreclosure listings that have residential loans with the bank and other areas where the firm operates. The bank reportedly identifies homeowners who are at risk of falling into foreclosure before they enter the process and offers them early help. M&I however, was not spared from the documentation debacle that hit the mortgage lending market last year wherein banks and lenders' documentation practices were questioned.

The firm joined a number of other banks in freezing foreclosures on single family homes and other residential properties in October of last year as it conducts an internal review of processes. The decision was prompted by accusations that lenders were signing court papers without reviewing their contents first. The lender restarted foreclosures on distressed properties after the review. In Kansas City, M&I was ranked 13th among banks that have the biggest deposit shares in the region.

The foreclosure crisis hit the bank like most other lenders in the U.S., forcing it to make adjustments. Some reports have hinted that the bank is planning to downsize operations in some areas, with more than 140 positions within the firm reportedly in danger of being laid off. Local reports have revealed that 16 of the positions in danger of being cut are in Kansas City. There had also been news that the parent company of the bank is in negotiation to enter a merger with another bank.

Despite all the goings on, representatives from M&I have assured owners of single family homes in Kansas City who are under foreclosure threat that the moratorium will continue and that they will be working with owners in saving their properties from foreclosures.

Bank foreclosures and distressed properties accounted for a huge percentage of housing sales in Phoenix, Arizona, in February 2011. A report from the Arizona State University (ASU) showed that foreclosed single family houses dominated home-resales during the month, causing year-over-year resale prices to decline in the metro area.

For February 2011, resale transactions involving single family dwellings totaled 8,565. Out of this total, 3,650 were attributed to distressed properties or to foreclosures listings in Phoenix. Of the remaining 4,915 non-foreclosed sales, around 40% were resales of foreclosed dwellings. The figure shows that around two-thirds of sales transactions during the month were accounted for by foreclosed property sales. Home resales total for February 2011 was slightly higher than one year ago, when 7,925 transactions were made, with 3,305 of them accounted for by foreclosed houses.

With foreclosure listings for Arizona accounting for a huge number of resale activities, median prices suffered a decline. In the ASU report, the median price of single family dwellings that were resold during the month in Maricopa County was $127,000, up a bit from the resale median rate of $125,000 recorded in January 2011. However, when compared with February 2010, prices posted a decline. Last year's median selling price was pegged at $140,000.

Meanwhile, in the condominium and townhouse markets, 580 bank foreclosures were posted in February, rising from February 2010, when 500 foreclosures were recorded in this segment. February 2011 condo and townhouse resales totaled 880, higher than the February 2010 total of 800. The median selling rate for this segment was $75,000, declining from the year-ago median rate of $95,000. According to local housing observers, the decline in foreclosure resales in the final quarter of 2010 gave some hope that the foreclosure crisis is starting to simmer down.

However, a nationwide foreclosure search revealed that foreclosure resales have gone back up in January in most U.S. markets, including Phoenix. Analysts stated that the decline in the last three months of 2010 was likely caused by the moratorium on foreclosures and the nationwide probe on foreclosure procedures. They also claimed that the continuous weakness in the economy and the high unemployment rate are preventing non-foreclosed home sellers from gaining a foothold in the market.

Most industry analysts in Phoenix are still waiting to see whether bank foreclosures will continue to dominate the housing resale sector in the coming months, or whether the spike in the first two months was caused by foreclosures trapped in the pipeline during the moratorium entering the market in one go.

Search home foreclosures in Arizona cities:

• Foreclosure Listings in Mesa
• Foreclosure Listings in Chandler
• Foreclosure Listings in Peoria
• Foreclosure Listings in Surprise
• Foreclosure Listings in Avondale

Portland, Oregon, was ranked as one of the top U.S. metro areas with the biggest supplies of cheap houses. The region was considered one of the worst-performing areas in terms of housing price declines for a period of two years. The other metro regions in the top five were Seattle, Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas.

As of February 2011, the list of Portland home foreclosures for sale has remained high. This has been partly blamed for the continuous drop in prices in the metro area. Home prices in Portland declined by 14.6% over a period of two years, according to data released by Clear Capital for February 2011. The region still did better than Seattle, which posted a price drop of 16.9% for the same period.

Analysts stated that home foreclosure listings in Oregon and problems with employment continue to influence housing price trends in the Portland region as February 2011 prices dipped by 10.4% compared with one year ago. When compared with the previous quarter, the decline was 4.1%. According to the data report, the biggest declines in housing unit prices were posted in the West, with eight of its metro areas accounting for 15 of the markets considered to be the worst home-price performers based on year-over-year declines.

The supply of cheap houses also increased nationwide as overall U.S. housing prices declined by 3.9% in February 2011 compared with February 2010. However, when compared with the past two years, nationwide prices actually improved by 4.2%. There have been some worries from analysts that the West, having the most areas with tumbling home prices, will encounter further troubles as spring comes since the season is considered the peak of home buying activities and prices traditionally fall even lower during that period.

Housing market experts have explained that the decline in housing prices is mainly due to the flood of foreclosures nationwide and partly due to the expiration of the federal government's tax credit initiative. Lack of demand for residential properties and minimal home buying activities in 2010 were also cited as reasons for the decline in residential property prices.

In Portland, the drop in prices and the rise in cheap houses supplies have been explained by housing analysts as a result of the metro area experiencing the foreclosure crisis a year later than most regions in the U.S. For 2011, housing prices are expected to decline further in most metropolitan areas of the country.

Search home foreclosures in Oregon cities:

• Foreclosure Listings in Medford
• Foreclosure Listings in Salem
• Foreclosure Listings in Central Point
• Foreclosure Listings in Hillsboro
• Foreclosure Listings in Redmond

The number of foreclosed properties under single family home listings in Tulsa, Oklahoma, increased in 2010 compared with 2009 levels. Despite the big jump in the area's foreclosure numbers, local housing analysts are expecting a stronger housing market this year as available distressed properties get snatched quickly by home buyers and investors.

Foreclosures list in Tulsa jumped by a massive 37% in 2010 from the year before. This resulted in the metro area getting ranked sixth among cities in the U.S. with the fastest rising number of foreclosed properties in 2010. According to housing experts, the considerable increase in distressed properties in the region was the result of job losses and more households getting caught in the housing industry crisis.

The number is set to increase again this year as over 400 residential properties entered the Oklahoma home foreclosure list in January 2011. Despite the continuous rise in foreclosure numbers, most realtors believe that Tulsa is doing much better than other U.S. cities since the increase is being offset by buyers rapidly purchasing these distressed properties. They added that, in terms of absorbing foreclosed properties, Tulsa has shown more resilience than majority of other metro areas.

Single family home listings and other residential property listings are expected to level out this year as more buyers come into the market to take advantage of the bargain deals available. Realtors stated that the projected 3% improvement in employment will help add more buyers to the industry, while low income mortgage rates are also expected to push reluctant buyers into the market.

In addition, realtors are seeing more short sales being completed in the past couple of months, which they expect will help lower the number of properties falling into foreclosure home listings. With the national economy projected to improve this year, most housing industry observers are optimistic that buyers will be able to offset most of the increases in foreclosure supplies.

Most analysts also believe that demand will eventually catch up with the supply of single family home listings and the housing market will attain some balance by the end of 2011. They also expect more short sales this year, which will help alleviate foreclosure burdens.

Search home foreclosure list in Oklahoma cities:

• Foreclosures List in Broken Arrow
• Foreclosures List in Yukon
• Foreclosures List in Shawnee
• Foreclosures List in Sand Springs
• Foreclosures List in Chickasha

The number of properties under foreclosure bank and HUD homes listings increased in Medford, Oregon, last year. The increase in the city's full year foreclosure rate was expected as numbers for November 2010 already showed that Medford's foreclosed property numbers were on the rise.

The expansion of the foreclosure list in Medford resulted in the city getting ranked 40th nationwide out of 206 U.S. metro areas in terms of locations with the highest rates of foreclosures. The rate of foreclosure in the city is also the worst among all housing markets in the state of Oregon last year. Medford even outranked Portland, one of the key metro areas of the state, with the latter ranked 63rd in 2010 overall.

Oregon foreclosure listings also increased in several other metro areas in the state, with Salem ranked 69th and Eugene at 105th in terms of markets with the highest foreclosed property rates. Majority of metropolitan areas in Oregon did worse than the metros of neighboring state Washington. Most housing industry analysts expect foreclosures to continue rising in most areas of Oregon in 2011.

According to local realtors, the year-end foreclosure condition of Medford is not really surprising, given that November 2010 housing data already showed bank foreclosures and HUD homes listings rising in the city. In November, Medford had a 3.73% foreclosure rate, representing an increase of 1.36% when compared with the November 2009 rate of 2.36%. During that month, the city's rate was also greater than the 3.48% national foreclosure average.

As early as the middle of last year, foreclosure listing properties in Medford were already on course to topple 2009 figures as delinquency rate in the city was also up during that time. In November 2010, 7.79% of Medford's borrowers were already three months or more behind in their mortgage payments. This delinquency rate was up by 0.31% from the 7.48% recorded in November of 2009.

Local housing industry analysts stated that part of the reason for the increased number of bank and HUD homes listings in the area was the big number of people flipping properties. They stated that these home flippers got caught in the economic downturn and were eventually unable to pay their loans.

Search foreclosure listings in Oregon cities:

• Foreclosure List in Portland
• Foreclosure List in Salem
• Foreclosure List in Grants Pass
• Foreclosure List in Redmond
• Foreclosure List in Central Point

Foreclosure numbers, including those associated with land foreclosure listings, increased in the Louisville-Jefferson metro area of Kentucky in 2010. However, the county foreclosure rate remained below the national foreclosure average posted last year and analysts are hopeful that the region's real estate market will improve in 2011.

Louisville foreclosure listings covering the Louisville-Southern Indiana part of the region had 7,540 residential foreclosure postings last year, up 20% from 2009 levels. One household out of every 73 in the area was under some form of foreclosure in 2010. This ranked Louisville 82nd among 203 metropolitan areas in terms of foreclosure rates. Meanwhile, the whole Jefferson County region posted 5,229 foreclosure sales in 2010, up 19% from 2009 levels.

Home foreclosures in Kentucky and in the county still did better than national level despite the increases, realtors have reported. Housing market data for 2010 in the Jefferson County also showed that out of the more than 5,000 properties up for foreclosure sale, 2,600 were actually auctioned off and sold to third party buyers. This represents a 24% jump when compared with 2009 levels.

The foreclosure figures for 2010 included commercial, industrial and land foreclosure listings. However, a big percentage was accounted for by residential foreclosures, according to county court officials. They also reported that foreclosure pace in Jefferson County has risen in the past five years, with courts handling foreclosure cases these past few years that are almost six times more than the number of foreclosure cases they worked on back in 2000.

Despite the increases and growing speed by which properties are entering a foreclosure property listing, local analysts stated that there have been recent signs that foreclosures will likely slowdown in 2011. According to them, foreclosure cases scheduled at courts for January and February have diminished, with 179 cases scheduled for January 18, while 18 and 83 are up for the February 1 and February 15 schedules, respectively.

Housing market analysts stated that the anticipated slowdown in activities related to residential and land foreclosure listings has more to do with traditional reasons, unlike other metro areas of the U.S. that recorded foreclosure declines due to the robo-signing controversy last year. They stated that homeowners securing agreements with lenders or filing bankruptcies are the most likely reasons in Jefferson.

Search home foreclosures in Arizona cities:

• Newport Home Foreclosures
• Covington Home Foreclosures
• Independence Home Foreclosures
• Owensboro Home Foreclosures
• Paducah Home Foreclosures

Residential and commercial property foreclosure listings continue to rise in Springfield, Massachusetts in the last quarter of 2010. The city recorded the biggest foreclosure deeds-related filings total in the whole state for the January-November period. The area had a total of 575 filings for the 11 months.

Foreclosure lists in Springfield increased for the year, with the number of deeds rising by 23.92% compared with the same 2009 period. During January-November 2009, the number of deeds filed in Springfield totaled 464, according to data presented by the Warren Group. Foreclosure deeds are part of the last stage of the foreclosing process.

Meanwhile, foreclosure petitions, part of the first processing stage before properties enter Massachusetts foreclosed home listings, declined in the area for the same period. Petition totals decreased by 13.4% in Springfield for the 11 months in focus to 913 from a high of 1,054 during the same period of 2009. In terms of single month comparison, November 2010 foreclosure deeds totaled 24, representing a 47.83% decline from the 46 posted in November 2009.

The whole state of Massachusetts, on the other hand, also experienced considerable growth in residential and commercial property foreclosure listings during 2010. Foreclosure-related deeds filed in the whole state for January-November 2010 totaled 11,750, up by 39.68% compared with the 8,412 posted in the same period last year based on the Warren Group data. Meanwhile, statewide petition filings for the 11-month period of 2010 declined to 1,109 from the same 2009 period total of 1,937, representing a 42.75% decrease.

Deeds filed, which pertain to the initial step involved in putting properties in commercial and home foreclosures list, decreased statewide to 416 between January and November 2010 compared with the same 2009 period, giving Massachusetts a percentage drop of 40.74. According to housing market analysts, the figures have been affected by the countrywide moratorium implemented by several major lenders all around the U.S.

Local industry analysts have also reported that the huge percentage of properties under residential and commercial property foreclosure listings in Massachusetts are owned by people who have lost jobs or have suffered from income declines. As opposed to the first year of the foreclosure crisis, troubled property owners in 2010 are mostly regular mortgage holders and not subprime mortgage borrowers, analysts have added.

Search foreclosed home listings in Massachusetts cities:

• Foreclosure Lists in Plymouth
• Foreclosure Lists in Worcester
• Foreclosure Lists in Haverhill
• Foreclosure Lists in Fall River
• Foreclosure Lists in Lynn

Housing market reports have revealed that values of residential properties including foreclosed, non-foreclosures and even those in federal house lists have declined in the region of Denver-Fort Worth, Texas by over $10 billion in 2010. The decline for the current year also represents an increase from the previous year.

A number of housing reports have estimated that the value of non-foreclosed dwellings and properties in Fort Worth home foreclosures list dropped by an estimated $11.7 billion during 2010. Last year, the estimated decline was pegged at $7 billion. The decline was primarily attributed to the huge number of residential property foreclosures found in the region and the ongoing economic recession.

According to housing industry experts, although listing of Texas home foreclosures for sale were at their highest levels during the start of the year, housing values actually improved because of government interventions, particularly in the form of the tax credit initiative designed to lure first time home buyers to purchase residences. However, the second half of 2010 following the expiration of the tax credit put the market back to its downward path which is expected to last until early next year.

Analysts have added that the number of foreclosed properties under bank and federal house lists maintained their near-record levels in the second half of the current year. This, along with high negative equity rates, will continue to bring hardships to homeowners until the first half of 2011, analysts have predicted.

Nationwide housing values are not doing any better than Texas areas, housing analysts have reported. With the number of homes under foreclosure property listings continuously rising, residential markets all around the U.S. also continue to lose value, with nationwide markets expected to lose $1.7 trillion by the end of the current year. If this estimate materializes, the total housing value loss in the whole country caused by the foreclosure crisis will climb to $9 trillion.

Housing data also showed that only around 30 or so local housing markets experienced value gains during 2010. The highest value increase for the year was recorded in Boston at $10.8 billion, followed by San Diego at $10.2 billion. For the rest of the country, further value declines are predicted for next year unless the number of foreclosed properties in bank and federal house lists show some improvement.

Search home foreclosures in Texas cities:

• San Antonio Home Foreclosures List
• El Paso Home Foreclosures List
• Spring Home Foreclosures List
• Garland Home Foreclosures List
• Humble Home Foreclosures List

Multi family property listings have remained at a standstill for several years in the downtown area of Fort Myers, Florida. However, the past few months saw the market getting a new lease on life as more buyers get their hands on condominium and apartment units and developers initiate projects for similar structures.

One example is Oasis. The skyscraper was sold as one of the Fort Myers home foreclosures earlier and is now on course to sell 40 of its units at an absolute auction, which means that the winning bidder will take the unit no matter how much he or she bids. At High Point Place, around 70% of the units have been sod, while St. Tropez only has 11 remaining units to sell.

According to local realtors, property buyers have been reluctant to make any purchase until a few months ago as prices of properties in the downtown area have plummeted dramatically due to the huge supplies of Florida home foreclosures for sale. However, the recent uptick in activity has encouraged buyers to take the plunge, expecting prices to hold for a longer period of time.

Realtors have stated that although prices of multi family property listings remain way below the level enjoyed by the market during the real estate boom, most buyers believe that the downtown market has started to stabilize and will be able to maintain that stability for a long period. The robo-signing controversy surrounding the residential property market also did not affect buyers' enthusiasm for apartments and condo units in the area, realtors further added.

Housing market observers have reported that almost half of the people trying to find real estate foreclosure listings and multifamily dwellings are from out of Florida and even from out of the U.S., with Canadians comprising the highest percentage of foreign buyers. Most of the buyers reportedly paid in cash.

City realtors are confident that activities in the multi family property listings market will further improve by next year, asserting that the Oasis and St. Tropez success will encourage more investors and property buyers to head to downtown Fort Myers and taken advantage of the booming market.

Search home foreclosures in Florida cities:

• Miami Home Foreclosures
• Fort Lauderdale Home Foreclosures
• Pompano Beach Home Foreclosures
• Kissimmee Home Foreclosures
• Hollywood Home Foreclosures