Foreclosures: ‘Worst three months of all time’ So foreclosures are up.  Some areas of the country are holding off on doing foreclosures.  Nearly a million homes in the process of being foreclosed.

During that time, 937,840 homes received a foreclosure letter — whether a default notice, auction notice or bank repossession, the RealtyTrac report said. That means one in every 136 U.S. homes were in foreclosure, which is a 5% increase from the second quarter and a 23% jump over the third quarter of 2008.

Which is very surprising is the number of homes in the process.  I found it interesting that of this number there is an increase in repossessions.  I wonder how many of the repossessions are due to the the reverse loan values. 

That deluge contributed significantly to the quarter’s record 237,052 repossessions, a 21% jump from the previous three months. So far this year lenders have taken back 623,852 homes.

Too bad there is no way to do a break down of how many of these loans were sub-prime loan homes.  Where the original owner used the home as a piggy bank to keep up with the Jones’.

If you want to see the breakdown by state  This shows a range from .02% to Nevada’s 4.35% foreclosure rate.  Nevada has a foreclosure rate worst in the nation.  California with all its problems is only 3rd on the list with 1.88%.  I love the title on this page Foreclosure Crisis.  We have a crisis. Correction in markets are now taking place.  There is a chance to pick up some property cheap if you have the savings and the ability to pay.  Home values are dropping.   King County in Washington State sees a rise in foreclosures also.  Realtytrac.com has an article talking about the foreclosure rate. And it breaks it down into 5 categories.  It is a good way to see trends.

So is the Housing Tax Credit helping our housing crisis or causing a bubble that will hit us in the the near future with another round and an even bigger number of foreclosures.  Now this Tax credit has been with us since last fall. A local blogger looked at the numbers of sales for our local area.     What is really cool on this last article is overlaying the home sales per month for the past 10 years.  You can see that home buying started their drop in 2007.   Is it the Tax Credit of 8000 or is it the lower home values that make the homes more affordable that is causing the slight rise in home sales.  That is very hard to say.   We know that politician will claim their tax credit is the reason but this article seems to put the numbers into the correct consideration.   Different parts of the country or even the state have various numbers to look at.  But trends are good to look for.   seattlebubble.com  is a good source of information on the housing industry.

We really do not know all the factors in the housing market.  But trends are taking place. Housing is a problem in many parts of the country but that is only one factor of many that affect our economy.   It is truely worth watching.  And the ever asking question is the Federal government Helping or delaying a bigger problem we have yet to face.  You decide.

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