There are so many foreclosure homes for sale that it is telling on the real estate market. During the last third quarter of 2007 national home values fell to a 25 year record. The hardest hit was the West Coast. It is the sub-prime market that is held responsible for the increase in foreclosure homes for sale but the waves are being carried over to other zones.
Freddie Mac reports that its CMHPI or Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index (classic) went down by 1.3% in house values during the last quarter. The number of single-family houses waiting to be sold rose to record levels since 1985. At the root of the problem are foreclosure homes for sale. Not only are the numbers upsetting the demand and supply balance with the tilt being in favour of the latter but the lenders are not ready to sit indefinitely with these foreclosure homes for sale because there are nothing but white elephants.
Increasing number of foreclosure homes for sale has become a threat to the socio-economic structure of the entire society. Entire streets lined with foreclosure homes for sale means rise in criminal activity. Overgrown gardens and stagnant pools in these foreclosure homes for sale are posing health problems. There are fire outbreaks and vandalism. The neighbours are petrified and they too want to move out. This is causing a further slump in real estate – with more sellers than buyers. The local authorities are regarding with alarm at the foreclosure homes for sale because no maintenance taxes are paid. The foreclosure homes for sale are in a state of limbo with nobody quite sure about who is the owner. As such the taxes are not being collected. The garbage left behind by evicted ex-owners is posing problems for the municipality. Who will pay for the extra work related to rising numbers of foreclosure homes for sale?
Foreclosure homes for sale are not attracting buyers because the lenders tightening their belts in on all types of loans – prime, non-traditional and sub-prime residential mortgages from July to October 2007. The Pacific region leads in foreclosure homes for sale. But the oil rich patches are spared the worst. This shows how a robust local economy can bring down the number of foreclosure homes for sale. The greatest numbers of foreclosure homes for sale are in those regions where the housing boom had peaked the most.