There were 4,304 Arizona foreclosure listings in May and 4,868 in June; a rise of 13.1%. About 4 million seriously delinquent borrowers exist, many of whom would already be in foreclosure except for processing delays.

The number of U.S. homes seized by banks fell in May as processing delays continued to impede foreclosures. Many lenders are in no hurry to add repossessed houses to their books as it takes an average of three years in California to clear a house from the pipeline of foreclosure listings.

California	May Listings	June Listings	Percent Rise
Sacramento	463		562		21.3
Bakersfield	279		346		24.0
Fresno		228		291		27.6
Stockton	201		272		35.3
Los Angeles	202		249		23.2

Arizona		May Listings	June Listings	Percent Rise
Phoenix		1019		1207		18.4
Tucson		491		557		13.4
Mesa		354		389		13.4
Glendale	237		276		16.4
Scottsdale	162		193		19.1

Even though the foreclosure system is bogged down by the sheer volume of cases, borrowers are fighting to keep their houses. The U.S. Department of Treasury is helping some people avoid foreclosures. The Treasury Department gave states hit hardest by foreclosures a total of $36-millon to help residents pay their mortgages and stay in their homes.

Arizona, one of the states to receive money for the Save Our Home Program, is accepting applicants. The ADOH has funding to help about 100 consumers per month and hopes to reach around 14,000 Arizona households through the course of the program.

On the Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH) website, people who are unemployed and believe their home may enter foreclosure will find a list of requirements and a survey to determine if they’re eligible for help to pay the mortgage. It takes about 15-to-20 minutes to apply and requires a lot of the same information you would need when applying for a loan.

When banks foreclose on homeowners, it ends up costing local city governments millions of dollars each year. Hidden costs associated with foreclosures include declining property tax revenue as homes remain empty or values drop, affecting the home values of the neighborhoods which can also see values drop along with tax revenues.

News Source: ForeclosureListings.com :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

In April, there were 361 bank foreclosures in New York State and 372 bank foreclosures in May; a small rise at +3.05 percent. But there were 468 bank foreclosures in New Jersey State in April and 357 bank foreclosures in May; a huge drop at -23.72 percent.

The top cities from April to May revealed:
NEW YORK
1) Rochester +52.9%
2) Staten Island +18.1%
3) Buffalo -11.7%
4) Brooklyn -5.26%
5) Bronx -11.7%

NEW JERSEY
1) Newark -23.0%
2) Trenton -31.8%
3) Perth Amboy -24.1%
4) East Orange -28.5%
5) Elizabeth +7.14%

Usually, real estate trends continue for a long time, and then change only after some major reason that changes the circumstances. Even though government intervention has been available to help homeowners avoid increasing mortgage defaults and risk losing their homes, many homeowners have not pursued the assistance available to them for lack of hope to qualify, be approved for assistance, or recovering from the loss. There are suspicions about being able to meet the requirements of actually receiving help through various government programs.

Real estate investors are currently buying up foreclosures and turning them into rentals. In some metro areas, for example, where 30 to 40 percent of all occupied homes are rentals. Because so many people have been burned by the housing collapse in recent years, the rental market may remain very active for years.

Although some of the larger cities in New York show drops in listings, statewide the foreclosures actually increased as many of the foreclosure processes have completed and the paperwork finalized. In previous months banks and lenders were under pressure to ensure that the foreclosure filings were accurately processed causing a moratorium to be placed on completing the processes until everything was confirmed correct. Now that the process has completed more homes may be placed into foreclosure in the months and years ahead as the processes are once again continuing.

News Source: BankOwnedProperties.org :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

This cycle of surges of many available discounted homes in foreclosure and the purchasing of them continues similar to the stop-and-go of traffic at the change of lights from red to green and back.

ForeclosureListings reports that Phoenix, Arizona, is the top city in foreclosure rates. But since March of 2011, the number of foreclosure listings is falling in a huge proportion, reflecting the surges of foreclosed properties on the market after months of processing the paperwork and verifying information:
March: 1.168 listings
April: 1.081 (-7.45%)
May: 980 (-9.34%).

Miami, one of the largest cities in Florida, has also registered a fall of listings for this time period:
March: 600 listings
April: 516 (-14%)
May: 404 (-21.7%).

Orlando and Fort Lauderdale also have falling numbers since March, giving the impression that Florida is leaving the crisis. But the foreclosure slowdown is largely the result of massive delays in processing foreclosures and not the result of a housing recovery. The foreclosure slowdown is being received apathetically; banks continue to stall home repossessions, and several of Florida’s major foreclosure processing law firms left the business.

Atlanta, the capital city of Georgia, was only in the 6th position in the top10 of foreclosure listings in March. The following months were only of rising numbers:
March: 387 listings
April: 499 (+28.9%)
May: 635 (+27.2%).

Another example of a rising foreclosure situation is Aurora, one of the top cities in Colorado. Aurora is a place with over twice as many foreclosure listings as Atlanta, Georgia:
March: 1092 listings
April: 1152 (+5.49%)
May: 1365 (+18.8%).

Tucson, another big city in Arizona, is also showing similar numbers, contrary to Phoenix:
March: 424 listings
April: 437 (+3.06%)
May: 488 (+11.6%).

Foreclosures account for around 40 percent of total home sales in Tucson now. Tucson was one of the cities hit hard and fast at the beginning of the housing meltdown, and will likely be one of the first to bottom out and rebound. A buyer can pay $325 per month for a two-bedroom home if they can get approved for financing, for example, due to the depressed prices that have leveled the number of homes that have already been processed. This indicates a swing in the trend from foreclosures to purchases.

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But observers say the drop is not necessarily a sign that Florida’s housing industry is turning any particular corner. Mortgage foreclosures declined in the first quarter from a record high as U.S. employment and personal income rose, signaling the economic recovery may be helping to limit mortgage defaults.

Why the numbers fall?
It may be more about longer foreclosure processing delay times than a general housing recovery. Nationally, it took an average of 400 days from the initial default notices to completion in the first quarter of 2011, up from 340 days a year ago. In 2007 the average time was 151 days to complete a foreclosure.

In some Florida jurisdictions, courts have established so-called rocket dockets – in place since December 2008 – to expedite the foreclosure process, yet the average foreclosure still consumed 619 days to complete during the first three months of 2011; more than three times higher than the 169 days it took in 2007.

On average, California homes in foreclosure last quarter took about 9.1 months to maneuver through the foreclosure process; up from 8.8 months for the prior quarter and 7.5 months a year earlier. The increase could reflect the massive lender backlogs and paperwork problems, legal and regulatory obstacles and further time needed to pursue loan modifications and short sales. Some California borrowers were in default on multiple loans, such as a primary mortgage and a line of credit, further exasperating the problem.

The top 5 cities in each state were:
FLORIDA:
Miami: -14%
Orlando: -17.1%
Fort Lauderdale: -14.4%
Tampa: -18.6%
West Palm Beach: -17.1%

CALIFORNIA:
Sacramento: -8.7%
Bakersfield: +0.7%
Los Angeles: -10.9%
Fresno: -6.6%
San Diego: -9.9%

Are there common reasons in each state?
Employment is the most important indicator for predicting future foreclosure activity. California’s unemployment picture improved slightly in April. Florida’s jobless rate may have bottomed out and a long, slow recovery may be beginning, leading speculators to believe this is perhaps contributing to fewer properties entering foreclosure proceedings.

Foreclosures are likely going to continue to be very high for a year or two, or more. About 6.4 million home loans were either delinquent or in foreclosure in April.

Before true growth can occur, Florida and California will need time to work through the considerable backlog of distressed properties, as well as continue to employ more people.

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Colorado foreclosed homes were 6,825 in March and 7,277 listings in April, a 6.62 percent increase.

Georgia had a bit more at 3,575 foreclosure listings in March and 3,828 listings in April, a 7.08 percent increase.

Only Georgia, Colorado, New Jersey, Wyoming, Alabama, and Alaska had increases from March to April 2011. Experts suggest that the slight rise in the preceding month has to do with the continuous flow of foreclosures that have been stuck in limbo while courts and lenders wade through the many filings to ensure that all paperwork was correctly and accurately completed.

Last year’s scrutiny of so-called “robo-signing” of documents by inexperienced personnel hired to help process the many loans in default or in modification, temporarily slowed the process.

As more foreclosure paperwork continues to be processed, more of these homes will appear on the market. In Colorado, the consensus is that the tourism industry has been affected by the lack of spendable income and that has affected jobs in the mountain state. In Georgia, jobs were added in several industry sectors for the second straight month. Yet data reveals a slight relief of the immense backlog of foreclosure listings that have been held up for months by the tight scrutiny of the foreclosure processes that have slowed the process in previous months, and now shows the increase in listings.

Completing the information, ForeclosureDataOnline.com also calculated the percentage of Colorado and Georgia foreclosed homes of the top cities of these states:

COLORADO:
Denver: -1.0%
Aurora: +5.4%
Arvada: +7.0%
Colorado Springs: +7.7%
Brighton: +10.4%

GEORGIA:
Atlanta: +28.9%
Lawrenceville: +5.4%
Marietta: +23.6%
Douglasville: +129.3%
Savannah: -5.6%

High unemployment, a soft real estate market, and underwater borrowers – all key factors that create foreclosures – are contributing to the long duration of the housing and financial crisis.

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Statistics show that there were 28 percent less foreclosure homes during the first quarter of 2011 then during the same period in 2010. While Illinois still holds the 10th highest foreclosure rate in the nation, Illinois’s foreclosure property market could undergo big changes.

“The number of foreclosures in Illinois has dropped every month since the start of 2011,” says James Foxx, a business analyst for ForeclosureDeals.com. “The housing market as a whole isn’t rebounding too strongly just yet, but foreclosure homes in Illinois are certainly beginning to decrease.”

A new state Supreme Court decision could also have an effect on the supply of foreclosures in Illinois. The court has established a mortgage fairness committee to review lending and foreclosure procedures in the state, and possibly changes the laws for each.

“The committee will look at the Illinois foreclosure process and probably end up slowing it down and making the requirements for a lender to pursue a foreclosure much tougher. If they’re also looking at mortgage laws, you could also see fewer homes in foreclosure in total.”

Foxx pointed out that while this is good news for the Illinois housing market, it could mean foreclosure investing in Illinois could soon become more expensive.

“Right now, Illinois, especially the Chicago area, offers some great chances to buy foreclosure properties for cheap. But now is the time to look into buying.”

In an effort to help the Illinois real estate market recover, the state legislature is also considering a bill that would no longer factor nearby foreclosures into a home’s property value. Currently, a foreclosure home in a neighborhood can bring down the value of the homes all around it. The proposed bill would legally change that, which could create a larger divide between the price for a foreclosure in Illinois and the market price for a regular home. If median home values go up, foreclosures could become more valuable if their price remains depressed.

Kendall and Will Counties had the highest rates of foreclosure in Illinois in the first quarter, and experts stress that cheap foreclosure homes are still out there, despite the uncertain market future.

News Source: Foreclosure Deals :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

With just over 10,000 home sales in the Phoenix area in March, and nearly 1,500 of those sales occurring on Arizona foreclosure homes, the Phoenix foreclosure market is heating up. The new sales statistics are the latest in a string of signs that show the Arizona housing market could be on the road to recovery.

“Demand is starting to increase in the Phoenix area, and that’s certainly a good sign,” remarks James Foxx, a chief business analyst with ForeclosureDeals.com. “And a lot of foreclosure properties are almost brand new. There was a lot of new development before the crash, and now buyers are getting some amazing deals on brand new homes. Arizona has a lot of value for foreclosures.”

Foxx says that buyers are attracted to foreclosure properties because they offer huge discounts from traditional home prices, often as high as 50 percent or more. The state as a whole is seeing increased interest in foreclosures in Arizona, and lenders are reporting higher than normal turnout at foreclosure sales and auctions.

“The economy is beginning to rebound, and Arizona is a great place to live,” remarked Foxx. “Buyers are just regaining confidence in the market. We’ve been waiting for this to happen. There are great foreclosure homes going for great prices.”

While increased competition for foreclosures in Arizona will undoubtedly cause prices to rise, Foxx points out that with plenty of foreclosure homes currently available, the time is right to buy.

Arizona also holds a high number of Fannie Mae foreclosures. These government foreclosures are in high demand, because they are often in better condition and upkeep than other foreclosure houses. Almost half of Fannie Mae’s foreclosure homes are in the hotspots of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio.

“Fannie Mae has a lot foreclosures in Arizona, and a lot of those are multi-family foreclosure units. If you’re an investor, foreclosures can offer a lot of value, especially in Phoenix. Multi-families make great income properties.”

With some of the lowest prices available on real estate in the country, Foxx expects interest in Arizona foreclosures to rise as the Arizona housing market continues to recover.

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Borrowers lost 1.67 million homes in 2010 as some 27 percent of U.S. mortgage holders were underwater (owed more than their house was worth) by the end of 2010. 2.9 million Homes received foreclosure filings in 2010 and there would have been more if not for court interference after it was discovered that some lenders hired inexperienced people to process foreclosures without following procedures and verification of facts (robo-signing).

More than 1.8 million homes are projected to be taken this year in foreclosures, short sales and voluntary dispossessions paving the way for astute investors to purchase homes in desirable areas for a steep discount to their actual value.

Housing will remain weak in the next few months amid the high number of houses in foreclosure. Demand for homes is likely to remain quiet as unemployment of almost 9 percent continues to plague the labor market and credit market conditions remain firm.

The outlook of more foreclosures looming, declining prices of excellent homes in prime neighborhoods, and an unemployment rate expected to average about 8.7 percent this year means a housing recovery may take years to evolve. Foreclosure filings will climb about 20 percent, reaching a peak for the housing crisis in 2011.

Top 5 states with more foreclosures in April:

State		Number of properties
California	10,388
Florida		8,224
Colorado 	7,779
Arizona		5,038
Georgia		3,833

Even with all the government intervention and assistance efforts, the U.S. housing market remains under pressure from a poor employment outlook and oversupply of houses. The national political climate for budget tightening means homeowner assistance programs will lose support and no new programs will be started.

Recent rumblings in the markets about inflation do not seem to affect the housing industry. There is a glut of distressed properties on the market. The average rate on a 30-year fixed loan increased to 4.98 percent the week ended April 8; still an excellent rate for purchasing a home.

This is all good news for the investor or home buyer. This is an ideal time to buy a home if an individual is in a good position to purchase a house; the buyer has job security, has a credit score high enough to be approved for a loan, has enough money for a down payment (usually 20 percent), and is ready to establish roots in a community, for example.

A large part of the buyers’ market will continue to be Short sales and foreclosure sales as bargain-hunting investors and borrowers continue to find value in short sale and foreclosed properties, choosing these properties over traditional sales.

Lenders will increase the number of short sale and foreclosures properties they release to the market in anticipation of the settlement of the government “robo-signing” lawsuit furthering the opportunities for buyers to purchase at substantial price discounts.

After the government receives the $25 billion settlement from the financial institutions in trouble for the robo-signing debacle, there will not be nearly enough for the estimated $800 billion necessary to support all the underwater mortgages in the U.S.

The rising price of gasoline and other factors may prevent many potential buyers from venturing into the housing market. Oversupply together with weak demand for homes will likely keep housing prices low and declining for the remainder of 2011.

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Foreclosure activity in Florida fell 47 percent since 2010′s fourth quarter, for several reasons. International buyers hoping to protect their wealth with undervalued assets are attracted to the opportunities for investment in properties in desirable, historical vacation destinations for the wealthy. The stock market having risen significantly, and the political pressure on the U.S. government to rein in spending and not increase taxes in 2011 also contributed to a surge in real estate purchases.

But the slowdown in foreclosure activity resulted from the recent robo-signer foreclosure documentation problems that were exposed last fall. Lenders re-evaluated their foreclosure processes in light of the discovery last year that some repossessed homes might have lacked the proper authority and were rushed through the process by inexperienced newly-hired personnel. As a result, tighter lending standards were being enforced and slowed the processes. Note the chart of the top Florida cities with the most foreclosures and the variation in the last month.

Miami			- 8.5%
Orlando			- 14.0351%
Fort Lauderdale		- 12.2549%
Tampa			- 15.3061%
West Palm Beach		- 14.5714%
Pompano Beach		- 12.5402%
Jacksonville		+ 1.3841%
Hollywood		- 9.4650%
Kissimmee		- 16.2500%
Saint Petersburg	- 23.4146% 

Many banks reviewed thousands of foreclosure documents, delaying new foreclosure processing. The holdup has been compounded by court delays where foreclosures required approval by a judge in states such as Florida, New York, and New Jersey. What would usually take about four months to process had been taking almost 17 months from the time a property receives its initial notice of default until it is put up for auction.

The lender processing delays reduced the number of U.S. homes actually taken back by banks in the first three months of the year and resulted in a sharp drop in properties entering the foreclosure process.

As lenders make progress tackling a backlog of pending foreclosure cases, March foreclosure data suggest foreclosure activity may be starting to increase as more accurate reflection of the actual status information of the real estate market is revealed.

ForeclosureDataOnline.com last month found that about 1.8 million homes were delinquent or in foreclosure and will soon add to the 3.5 million existing homes already on the market.

High unemployment, a weak housing market, falling home values, and the lack of credit availability are continuing to pressure the market, and will likely continue driving foreclosures this year. Now would be an excellent time to invest in a property if one has the income, the good credit, and the down payment to buy a home and hold on for a few years until the market recovers.

A flood of a so-called shadow inventory of distressed unsold properties will likely continue to pressure home prices downward for the foreseeable future. Foreclosure activity will begin to increase again as banks gradually work their way through the backlog of thousands of foreclosures.

News Source: ForeclosureDataOnline :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

California has long been home to the largest inventory of foreclosure properties in a single state, and the trend is continuing. New statistics on foreclosed homes in California revealed by ForeclosureDeals.com show that foreclosures across the state rose 35 percent between February and March of 2011. But in addition to rising foreclosure rates, California foreclosed homes are now taking much longer to get to auction. In some areas, such as San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the average time for a foreclosure to go to auction is one year.

“The California foreclosure process has really slowed down, and it’s created a lot of great buying opportunities for foreclosure investors,” remarked James Foxx, ForeclosureDeals’ chief business analyst.

Foxx pointed out that foreclosure courts in California are making sure that each foreclosure has been carefully reviewed before going to public sale, in light of the recent “robo-signing” scandal, involving bank foreclosures that were pushed through to foreclosure without providing defaulted homeowners with time to pay off their debt.

“Foreclosures are taking 6, 9, 12 months to go to sale, and it’s slowly creating a buyer’s market.”

Home sales, however, have been on a steady rise in California in the past few months, and rose by 33 percent in March alone. Buyers are also turning to buying foreclosures in California much more often, as California foreclosure properties and distressed homes accounted for more than 57 percent of all home sales in the state in March.

Reports show that California foreclosures are common in areas nearby military bases, such as San Diego, Murrieta, and Fallbrook. Since homebuyers in these areas are itinerant military families, they often move and are unable to sell their homes in the depressed market. But foreclosure investment has also taken root in the area, with foreclosed houses bought up to be rented to new military arrivals.

“People are definitely paying attention to California foreclosures, because they offer so much value,” Foxx remarked. “When you’ve got a situation with increased interest in foreclosure investment, but a healthy supply of foreclosure homes, it’s a great time to buy. You’re going to find a lot of homes going for low prices so that lenders can sell off the backlog.”

About ForeclosureDeals:
ForeclosureDeals is a leader in the foreclosure news and foreclosure listings field. With a database of over 1.5 million foreclosure properties listed nationwide and daily updates on foreclosure advice and investment information, ForeclosureDeals is a one-stop source for foreclosure buyers and real estate investors. Visit http://ForeclosureDeals.com to learn more.

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