Foreclosures remain at the heart of the housing crisis, with banks unable to sell all the homes they’ve repossessed and more foreclosures trickling down the pipeline each day.
Approximately 1.7 million properties entered some stage of foreclosure during the first six months of 2011, but the numbers should actually be much higher.
The problem with the housing market is a collection of stalled foreclosures that need to clear before the market can recover, says one analyst.
When to make repairs, keep paying your mortgage or sell the property.
Foreclosure numbers artificially fell (again), but RealtyTrac says they don’t indicate a double-dip since the housing market never fully recovered from the crash in the first place.
Foreclosure accounted for 28% of all U.S. home sales in the first quarter of 2011, says RealtyTrac, a higher percentage that is mostly the byproduct of a sluggish market.
The average foreclosure takes nearly three years to clear in New York. What's with the delay, and what does it mean for delinquent homeowners?
Foreclosure activity decreased by 9 percentage points to a 40-month low in April, according to new Realty Trac data. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, though.
It may sound like a bad thing, but the money that defaulting homeowners don't pay their lenders can be a big boost to the economy by being spent on daily necessities.
Bank of America is doubling its efforts to help delinquent homeowners avoid foreclosure in a move that could be a win-win for both homeowners and the bank.
