Video: Foreclosures up 25%
posted at 3:30 pm on November 13, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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To no one’s great surprise, foreclosures exploded over the past year, increasing 25% over October 2007. The number is still lower than the peak hit in August when over 300,000 homes went into foreclosure, but the 279,000 in October represents a 5% increase from September:
The number of homeowners caught in the wave of foreclosures in October grew 25 percent nationally over the same month in 2007, data released Thursday showed.
More than 279,500 U.S. homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in October, an increase of 5 percent over September, according to RealtyTrac Inc. One in every 452 housing units received a foreclosure filing, such as a default notice, auction sale notice or bank repossession.
More than 84,000 properties were repossessed in October, RealtyTrac said.
Nevada, Florida, and Arizona topped the list of states hit by the foreclosures, and Las Vegas won the dubious honor of the city most affected by it. The rate in Sin City hit an astronomical 1 in 62 homes as the housing bubble continues to deflate. Florida has four of its cities in the top 10, and California isn’t far out of the race for the bronze medal among states.
As the discussion in the video clip notes, the problem facing both lenders and borrowers is a lack of agency to renegotiate the loans. Normally, lenders would attempt to salvage the mortgage and keep the homeowner in the house if possible by renegotiating, but who can change terms on loans that have been securitized into MBSs? That Congressional mandate has made it all but impossible to conduct lending business on normal terms without an outside entity buying back the MBSs as a group. That’s what the federal rescue plan should have done, rather than buy equity in banks and provide blank checks to any company (or state) with incompetent management.
Fortunately, the foreclosure rate appears to have leveled off a bit. If we can keep it plateaued, housing values will eventually rebound to the point where fewer homeowners are under water and have more flexibility in their economic choices.
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This is the theme for the next 4 years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdj-g3wnj7U
Whose got mo’ money than they know what to do with?
The gub-mint!
lorien1973 on November 13, 2008 at 3:32 PM
So we didn’t bail out American citizens losing their homes but we did bail out corporations with bad management. Great.
D0WNT0WN on November 13, 2008 at 3:32 PM
Me too, me too.
Uh yeah, I’m er…having trouble paying my mortgage. Yeah, that’s it. I having trouble paying my mortgage.
hawkdriver on November 13, 2008 at 3:33 PM
What percentage of these foreclosures are second homes, vacation homes or rentals?
cannonball on November 13, 2008 at 3:34 PM
Housing prices aren’t gonna rebound. They’re going a lot lower. They’ll go to pre-boom levels i.e. 1990s
lodge on November 13, 2008 at 3:35 PM
Geez we’re a country of losers. Too farging stupid to even figure out a budget.
Waiting for the tomatoes.
hawkdriver on November 13, 2008 at 3:35 PM
Just as a heart attack is nature’s way of telling you that you may need to live a less unhealthy lifestyle, being foreclosed on probably means that you should live a less financially irresponsible lifestyle.
MB4 on November 13, 2008 at 3:36 PM
is there ANYTHING the government can do right?
notagool on November 13, 2008 at 3:36 PM
Tav on November 13, 2008 at 3:39 PM
Well, I guess when the believe Obama is going to pay their mortgage and put gas in their cars, they stop paying their bills.
SUCK IT UP!
HornetSting on November 13, 2008 at 3:42 PM
And then there is the small mater of the one time that I lost at Vegas. I want my bailout too.
Tuco on November 13, 2008 at 3:42 PM
Goddamn it! And yet every day I see Barney Frank’s stupid face in the headlines about how he wants to spend more money. Why isn’t this JA and a large bunch of the Democrat party in jail? This is insanity!
DerKrieger on November 13, 2008 at 3:44 PM
NO! And yet the Leftists are already scrambling to introduce national health care legislation (Max Baucus-MT) in the first 100 days followed soon by cap and trade and amnesty. They are going to force this country over a cliff.
DerKrieger on November 13, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Banks Giving 1-2% Teaser Rates as Modifications
econavenger on November 13, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Let them fail. I want to see breadlines and Obamavilles all over the place.
Vashta.Nerada on November 13, 2008 at 3:51 PM
How many of them were illegal aliens?
What caused the problem, who caused it, who is still in charge of the problem, why has the problem not been fixed only funded to continue, and why has the media not properly held the political leaders responsible accountable for it he first place?
Why did we need an “Immediate $700 Billion Bail Out”… Immediately only to be changed after the check was signed to, “Well…….. we changed our minds.”
Why does the Free Market System see what is coming and selling off assets like there will be no tomorrow?
Finally, why does Mr. Obama want President Bush to fix this situation BEFORE he is sworn in?
Seven Percent Solution on November 13, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Paulson is on Bloomberg right now and he’s absolutely incoherent. Lord help us, he is clueless.
BadDogMN on November 13, 2008 at 3:54 PM
I believe about 5 million dollars worth. They are running back to their third world crap trenches and we are here to “Bail them Out”! Sux to be compassionate.
HornetSting on November 13, 2008 at 3:55 PM
He has more twitches than a crackhead.
HornetSting on November 13, 2008 at 3:55 PM
Dow having a short covering rally. Might be a good time to sell have 5 minutes to get the hell out. Might be another day or two in the rally.
unseen on November 13, 2008 at 3:56 PM
I want some? I was just told I was three months behind on my 15,000 a month mortage. What the heck did ya suspect I only nake 150.00 a week.
Just kidding my house is already paid for.
Hmmm an old retired construction worker.
My house is paid for.
My truck and two cars are paid for.
My fifth wheel is paid for.
I have insurance.
Hmmm I guess “O” Dumbo will be after me for what I have left.
Rick007 on November 13, 2008 at 3:57 PM
I’m sure they’ll be dubbed “Bushvilles”.
Farmer_Joe on November 13, 2008 at 3:59 PM
I want some? I was just told I was three months behind on my 15,000 a month mortage. What the heck did ya suspect I only nake 150.00 a week.
Just kidding my house is already paid for.
Hmmm an old retired construction worker.
My house is paid for.
My truck and two cars are paid for.
My fifth wheel is paid for.
I have insurance.
Hmmm I guess “O” Dumbo will be after me for what I have left.
Rick007 on November 13, 2008 at 3:57 PM
But he will pry my guns from my cold dead hands.
Rick007 on November 13, 2008 at 4:02 PM
I saw a commercial where a guy said, “we were hit hard after our adjustable rate loan unfroze” Well, NO duh dumby.
People are so stupid.
tomas on November 13, 2008 at 4:03 PM
I work in finance and still have a job. I own a house and I can still afford my mortgage. My life must be an
anomalyexample of how budgets work.fiscallyconservative on November 13, 2008 at 4:05 PM
Obama is going to go after us first. Damn us for being so damn smart. Damn us. Take a little, give a lot. That’s the WELFARE STATE MOTTO.
HornetSting on November 13, 2008 at 4:09 PM
It would be interesting to hear the details of why most went bust:
- Person’s salary
- Mortgage amount
- Mortgage montly payment
- Current mortgage % rate
etc.
Once we knew it could probably be summarized with…”What bunch of idiots.”
————–
Any websites out there offering these distressed properties for sale at super recession-sale bargain rates? Or with the govt. bailouts looming are the banks keeping these foreclosed properties waiting waiting for an Uncle Sam buyout.
albill on November 13, 2008 at 4:16 PM
I started off with an ARM in 1987 when I bought my house. It adjusted up to 10% in the early ’90s; refinanced in ‘93 into a fixed rate. I’m happy to say that we made our payments and will be making our final payment next month. We have a boxy, nothing fancy tract-house, but it’s comfy, ours, and most importantly, within our means.
Child In Time on November 13, 2008 at 4:18 PM
We shouldn’t be bailing out either. Actions have consequences, and people need to learn that — especially people who behave irresponsibly. When we reward bad behavior, we just guarantee that we will get more of it in the future.
I think that HUD released some stats showing that five million defaulting subprime loans were made to illegal alien borrowers — that’s a lot more than 5 million dollars.
AZCoyote on November 13, 2008 at 4:55 PM
Now, them be the real questions, eh????
I’ve been a licensed Realtor for about 16 years. There is plenty, plenty of blame to go around and my profession is not without blame either: a lot of agents (notice the differentiation between agent and Realtor…but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion)see the sale as a paycheck, and when the sale starts to go down they think, “But we have to make this work, I gotta get my commission.”
The lenders? Yes, they too were at fault, especially with what the industry blatently acknowledged were “Liar’s Loans.” (Oh, you SAY you make that much money? You SAY you only have so-much debt? Well your credit scores look pretty good, so we’ll take your word for it. No verification [w-2s, tax returns etc.] needed).
But IMHO the real blame lies at the feet of of the gov’ment, who wanting to get more people into their own homes (another example of a noble concept in the hopey/changy mode), relaxed lending standards and in very, very many instances pressured the banks (remember, FANNIE and FREDDIE create the standards=rules)into making very, very bad loans with little to no money down to people that should have had the words “MUST RENT” stamped on their foreheads. This began as early as the Carter admin. btw.
This was the one reason I was willing to walk over that broken glass (before Sarah was named as running mate)to vote for McCain.) He promised a thorough investigation and that names would be named. Now, Frank, Dodd, Jamie Name-escapes-me-now, and even good ole Rahm will all get off scot free in their complicency in this monumental mess that has truly become the snowball from that very, very warm place we’ve heard so much about, and it is rapidly rolling down the mountain.
Chewy the Lab on November 13, 2008 at 5:14 PM
Boo freaking hoo. I am so sick and tired of all these poor, poor home “owners” losing “their” homes. If you own a mortgage, you don’t own a home. You own debt and nothing else.
And if you took out a loan you can’t afford you don’t deserve to keep that loan. Above all else, the worst thing Bush did was validate these idiots as victims. And from now on anytime someone makes a poor financial decision, be it a car loan, cc debt, buying a boat at 25% interest, they will expect the govt to come and fix the problem.
At the end of the day, once you get past Fannie, Freddie, Barney Frank, et al..it comes down to this:
millions of people knowingly bought way more house than they could afford thinking the value of the house would go up forever. And now that the party is over they need to suffer the consequences of those stupid decisions.
angryed on November 13, 2008 at 5:40 PM
Wait wait wait- did they break it down as to who was going into foreclosure? was it working families that were doing everything they could to hang on to their homes, OR was it illegal aliens and people who bought so much more house than they could possibly afford, and who had ZERO money invested in the property anyway? California and Florida are full of the latter, and I’m sick of hearing these awful foreclosure stories and when you break them down, the homes NEVER should have been sold to the people, and they’re usually trashed when the bank gets them back.
anniekc on November 13, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Dave Ramsey for President
Elizabetty on November 13, 2008 at 5:44 PM
Dave Ramsey for President
Elizabetty on November 13, 2008 at 5:44 PM
a damn skippy idea. Neil Cavuto could be his VP
anniekc on November 13, 2008 at 5:51 PM
Should’ve gone with the Newt/Ramsey plan.
This may be of interest, though. Jubak makes some good points. My bet is the One will keep Paulson or give us a clone:
Jubak: Fire the whole treasury team
batter on November 13, 2008 at 6:28 PM
would love to see a real poll on that!
Chewy the Lab on November 13, 2008 at 6:48 PM
Chase today told me persnally that they couldnt offer me a low rate on something I was trying to get becuase they are hurting like everyone else so no more deals. ROFLMAO.
I said yeah it wasnt a deal to start with, and hey…what about all that bail-out money yer sittin on? huh? Un F-in real. They wont give up. The USA is already only worth the dirt its sitting on. I do not feel sorry for those greedy s.o.b.’s and its OUR money they used for the bailout.
johnnyU on November 13, 2008 at 6:54 PM
No sympathy here - you pay your debts or you pay the price.
corona on November 13, 2008 at 6:58 PM
Is Pangloss Morrissey finally getting it? The economy is horrible and writing has been on the wall for a long time.
Bill C on November 14, 2008 at 2:07 AM
I’m a hard working Canadian and wish I could own my own home. No Freddie May or Fanny Mack here, no banking shenanigans in the great white north. To my everlasting dismay.
kellyjane on November 14, 2008 at 2:56 AM