
Archive for the 'Distressed sales' Category
November 3rd, 2009, 3:15 pm by Jeff Collins
 click to enlarge
The percentage of sales involving homes that had been through foreclosure during the prior 12 months continued to fall in September, down to 25.1% of home resales, MDA DataQuick reported.
That’s foreclosures’ lowest share of resales since February 2008.
And while it’s not surprising to note that falling foreclosures are tied to this year’s price surge, it is interesting to see how closely two trends — median home prices and foreclosures’ share of resales — correlate. (See chart at right)
A comparison shows:
- Foreclosures’ share of resales began to climb two years ago in O.C., rising from 6 percent in August 2007 to 46 percent last January.
- The median home price here fell to $370,000 from $642,000 in that time, a 42 percent decline.
- Foreclosures’ share of resales since have dropped steadily, corresponding to a 16 percent rebound in median home prices, which increased to $429,000 in September.
Forecasters have debated how an expected revival in the foreclosure rate will impact home prices next year.
Anil Puri, dean of Cal State Fullerton’s Mihaylo College of Business and Economics projected that 2010 home prices in O.C. will rise no more than 2 or 3 percent because of high joblessness and a possible increase in foreclosures.
But economist Mark Schniepp, author of the UCLA Orange County economic forecast, predicted that the next wave of foreclosures won’t be big enough to derail housing’s recovery.
More on distressed home sales:
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales • dataquick | 16 Comments »
November 3rd, 2009, 1:00 am by Jeff Collins
Aliso Viejo broker Steve Thomas of Altera Real Estate reports that it would take just 21 days to sell all the bank-owned homes in Orange County based on the current sales pace. And competition to buy those homes is so stiff that accepted offers are averaging 3% over the asking price, he said.
Fewer than one in 20 of the county’s 7,749 listings on Thursdays were repossessed homes taken by banks through foreclosure.
But short sales — homes selling for less than their debts — accounted for more than one in four O.C. listings, “a major player in today’s marketplace,” Thomas said. The chart below shows the long-term trend:
 click to enlarge
In addition, Thomas reports:
- There are currently only 314 foreclosed homes for sale in all of Orange County, a decrease of eight in the past two weeks.
- There are currently 2,075 short sales on the market, a decrease of just one in the past two weeks. Short sales currently represent 27 percent of the listings.
- The expected market time for short sales — the theoretical time to sell all the listings at the current sales pace — is 56 days, vs. nearly seven months a year ago.
- Overall, the total number of distressed listings — foreclosures and short sales — was 2,389, or 30.8 percent of the total number of homes for sale.
- That’s down just nine homes from two weeks ago, but way down from a year ago. At the end of October 2008, there were 5,801 distressed homes on the market, accounting for 43.8 percent of the total listings.
Here’s a look at various slices of the O.C. market as of last Thursday: total listings; distressed listings; and percentage of all listings that are distressed … Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales | 27 Comments »
October 19th, 2009, 12:18 pm by Mathew Padilla
Steve Thomas at Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo reports that the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents as foreclosures or short sales) increased last week for the first time since November 2008. The chart below shows the long-term trend:

- click to enlarge
More facts:
- The number of foreclosures and short sales increased by 52, now totaling 2,398, returning to early September 2009 numbers.
- 30.3% of the active inventory is distressed compared to 42.9% last year.
- There are currently 2,076 short sales on the active market, and they represent 26% of the active listing inventory.
- Yet there are currently only 322 foreclosures for sale in all of Orange County, an increase of two in the past two weeks.
- Foreclosures represent just 4% of the active listing market.
“Foreclosures are hot and are, on average, selling for 4% above their asking prices,” Thomas writes.
For overall sales and pricing data, check out Lansner on Real Estate.
Here’s a look at various slices of the O.C. market as of last Thursday: total inventory listings; distressed property listings; and the share distressed listings have of total inventory supply on a percentage basis in each niche …
| Slice |
All inventory |
Distressed |
Share |
| By price … |
|
|
|
| • O.C. $0-$250k |
1,134 |
590 |
52% |
| • O.C. $250-$500k |
1,994 |
1,054 |
53% |
| • O.C. $500k-$750k |
1,577 |
433 |
27% |
| • O.C. $750k-$1m |
943 |
176 |
19% |
| • O.C. $1m-$1.5m |
808 |
90 |
11% |
| • O.C. $1.5m-$2m |
468 |
29 |
6% |
| • O.C. $2m-4m |
698 |
26 |
4% |
| • O.C. $4m+ |
380 |
5 |
1% |
| All O.C. |
7,923 |
2,398 |
30% |
| • Attached |
2,896 |
1,120 |
39% |
| • Detached |
5,016 |
1,269 |
25% |
| County high share |
|
|
|
| • Anaheim |
316 |
209 |
66% |
| • Santa Ana |
479 |
306 |
64% |
| • Rancho Santa Marg. |
102 |
64 |
63% |
| • La Habra |
107 |
67 |
63% |
| • Aliso Viejo |
106 |
64 |
60% |
| • Buena Park |
108 |
60 |
56% |
| • Garden Grove |
176 |
96 |
55% |
| County low share … |
|
|
|
| • Seal Beach |
252 |
6 |
2% |
| • Corona Del Mar |
195 |
6 |
3% |
| • Laguna Woods |
365 |
22 |
6% |
| • Laguna Beach |
371 |
25 |
7% |
| • Newport Coast |
158 |
13 |
8% |
More from this blog…
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales | 21 Comments »
October 5th, 2009, 1:00 am by Mathew Padilla
Steve Thomas at Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo reports that the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents as foreclosures or short sales) was 2,346 last week, -38 vs. two weeks earlier or a -1.6% change.
Thomas also notes:
- There are currently 320 foreclosures for sale in all of Orange County, a drop of 14 in the past two weeks.
- Foreclosures only represent 4% of the active listing market. That’s not including foreclosures in escrow or held by banks but not yet listed for sale. As I have posted several times, banks are holding a lot of bad loans on their books.
- Foreclosures are selling for 3% above their asking prices.
- The distressed inventory has dropped 44% from its peak, reached in August of 2008.
- As a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 29.6% of the market last week, unchanged from a week earlier.
Lansner on Real Estate reports on an overall drop in houses for sale.
Here’s a look at various slices of the O.C. market as of last Thursday: total inventory listings; distressed property listings; and the share distressed listings have of total inventory supply on a percentage basis in each niche …
| Slice |
All inventory |
Distressed |
Share |
| By price … |
|
|
|
| • O.C. $0-$250k |
1,117 |
598 |
54% |
| • O.C. $250-$500k |
1,942 |
1,009 |
52% |
| • O.C. $500k-$750k |
1,571 |
416 |
26% |
| • O.C. $750k-$1m |
977 |
186 |
19% |
| • O.C. $1m-$1.5m |
813 |
86 |
11% |
| • O.C. $1.5m-$2m |
492 |
28 |
6% |
| • O.C. $2m-4m |
694 |
25 |
4% |
| • O.C. $4m+ |
386 |
4 |
1% |
| All O.C. |
7,917 |
2,346 |
30% |
| • Attached |
2,894 |
1,121 |
39% |
| • Detached |
5,007 |
1,220 |
24% |
| County high share |
|
|
|
| • Anaheim |
301 |
200 |
66% |
| • Santa Ana |
453 |
287 |
63% |
| • La Habra |
109 |
69 |
63% |
| • Foothill Ranch |
42 |
25 |
60% |
| • Aliso Viejo |
106 |
63 |
59% |
| • Garden Grove |
171 |
101 |
59% |
| • Buena Park |
104 |
61 |
59% |
| County low share … |
|
|
|
| • Seal Beach |
261 |
4 |
2% |
| • Corona Del Mar |
196 |
7 |
4% |
| • Laguna Woods |
358 |
21 |
6% |
| • Laguna Beach |
375 |
25 |
7% |
| • Newport Coast |
156 |
11 |
7% |
More from this blog on distressed properties…
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales | 20 Comments »
September 21st, 2009, 7:25 am by Mathew Padilla
(Update: Thomas explains list price on foreclosures.)
Steve Thomas at Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo reports that the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents as foreclosures or short sales) was 2,384 last week, -132 vs. two weeks earlier or a -5.2% change.
“The average sale to list price ratio for foreclosures over the past three months is 103%,” Thomas said. “That means that, on average, foreclosures are selling for 3% above the list price. The sale to list price ratio for short sales and equity sellers is 98%. And, if there weren’t so many appraisal issues, those numbers would be even higher. Buyers in the lower ranges should not expect to offer that much less than the asking price.”
Of course, list prices for some foreclosures might be lower than comparable properties nearby to attract buyers.
Also, I asked Thomas about foreclosures for which the list price has been dropped; does he use the final list price? Here’s what he wrote back in an email: “It is the sales to ‘last’ list price. Most foreclosures are not dropping their list price, though.” (Updated: 9:20 a.m.)
More points from the twice monthly report:
- “With pressure from the federal government, lenders are moving more and more towards short sales. We can expect within the coming weeks for the Obama administration to announce something along these lines. Currently most short sales, where home owners owe more than their homes are worth, take a very long time to obtain lender approval, delaying the ultimate close of escrow. Lenders are creating procedures to speed up the process. Short sales are a better route than foreclosures because they are in much better condition and save the lenders a lot on repairing and carrying costs. There are currently 2,050 short sales on the market with an expected market time of 1.58 months, much different than just one year ago when there were 4,422 short sales with an expected market time of 6.2 months.”
- “There are currently more distressed sales within the upper ranges. Last year only 6.5% of all distressed properties were above $750,000. Today, 11.4% of all distressed properties are above that mark. The upper ranges are not immune to distressed sales. More and more prime borrowers are having trouble paying their mortgages. A contributing factor to this trend is the increase in unemployment and the falling of property values where more and more borrowers are upside down in their homes.”
- As a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 29.6% of the market last week vs. 30.1% two weeks earlier.
- Since Dec. 27, the number of distressed homes on the market has dropped 56% while the non-distressed supply is 32% lower.
Here’s a look at various slices of the O.C. market as of last Thursday: total inventory listings; distressed property listings; and the share distressed listings have of total inventory supply on a percentage basis in each niche …
| Slice |
All inventory |
Distressed |
Share |
| By price … |
|
|
|
| • O.C. $0-$250k |
1,174 |
625 |
53% |
| • O.C. $250-$500k |
1,962 |
1,015 |
52% |
| • O.C. $500k-$750k |
1,569 |
412 |
26% |
| • O.C. $750k-$1m |
999 |
188 |
19% |
| • O.C. $1m-$1.5m |
835 |
87 |
10% |
| • O.C. $1.5m-$2m |
499 |
34 |
7% |
| • O.C. $2m-4m |
702 |
20 |
3% |
| • O.C. $4m+ |
406 |
8 |
2% |
| All O.C. |
8,064 |
2,384 |
30% |
| • Attached |
2,959 |
1,150 |
39% |
| • Detached |
5,091 |
1,220 |
24% |
| County high share |
|
|
|
| • Anaheim |
292 |
197 |
67% |
| • Foothill Ranch |
44 |
29 |
66% |
| • Santa Ana |
472 |
302 |
64% |
| • Garden Grove |
191 |
113 |
59% |
| • Portola Hills |
7 |
4 |
57% |
| • Rancho Santa Marg. |
102 |
58 |
57% |
| • La Habra |
101 |
57 |
56% |
| County low share … |
|
|
|
| • Seal Beach |
266 |
4 |
2% |
| • Corona Del Mar |
206 |
7 |
3% |
| • Laguna Woods |
380 |
18 |
5% |
| • Laguna Beach |
382 |
27 |
7% |
| • Newport Coast |
165 |
16 |
10% |
More from this blog…
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales | 10 Comments »
September 10th, 2009, 11:38 am by Marilyn Kalfus, real estate reporter
First, in foreclosure news lately:
Millions more foreclosures coming. Cramdown bill returning?
Every week, homes throughout Orange County go to foreclosure auctions. The owners can be millions of dollars in debt, or owe just a few thousand.
Often these homes revert to the lenders, who eventually put them back on the market. Sometimes the homes are bought by investors and resold.
Foreclosures affect more than the homeowners involved. They can impact entire neighborhoods. At the very least, they can affect nearby home sales.
All of these homes and addresses have been listed in the public notices, as required by law.
See Dana Point foreclosures HERE.
See Huntington Beach foreclosures HERE.
See Irvine foreclosures HERE.
See Laguna Hills foreclosures HERE.
See Laguna Niguel foreclosures HERE.
See Mission Viejo foreclosures HERE.
See Yorba Linda foreclosures HERE.
To read about how these auctions work, CLICK HERE.
Trustee, trustor … what’s the difference? See foreclosure terms and definitions HERE.
More from this blog…
Posted in: Auctions • Distressed sales • Uncategorized • distress | 11 Comments »
September 8th, 2009, 2:00 am by Mathew Padilla
(Update: Table corrected for County High and Low Shares.)
Steve Thomas at Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo reports that the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents as foreclosures or short sales) was 2,516 last week, -43 vs. two weeks earlier or a -1.7% change.
Thomas writes that foreclosures and short sales — when a lender agrees to accept less than debt owed on a property — are preventing home price appreciation, even though there is a seller’s market among cheaper homes under $500,000.
“Short sales, which are subject to lender approval, and foreclosures, which are lender owned properties, currently have a monopoly on the market,” Thomas says. “Typically distressed properties are not placed on the market higher than the last comparable sale. And, 54% of active listings below $500,000 are distressed properties.”
He also notes, as a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 30.1% of the market last week vs. 30.0% two weeks earlier.
Since Dec. 27, the number of distressed homes on the market has dropped 53% while the non-distressed supply is 29% lower.
Here’s a look at various slices of the O.C. market as of last Thursday: total inventory listings; distressed property listings; and the share distressed listings have of total inventory supply on a percentage basis in each niche …
| Slice |
All inventory |
Distressed |
Share |
| By price … |
|
|
|
| • O.C. $0-$250k |
1,267 |
702 |
55% |
| • O.C. $250-$500k |
2,001 |
1,097 |
55% |
| • O.C. $500k-$750k |
1,645 |
456 |
28% |
| • O.C. $750k-$1m |
1,012 |
166 |
16% |
| • O.C. $1m-$1.5m |
875 |
85 |
10% |
| • O.C. $1.5m-$2m |
514 |
35 |
7% |
| • O.C. $2m-4m |
724 |
23 |
3% |
| • O.C. $4m+ |
406 |
7 |
2% |
| All O.C. |
8,362 |
2,516 |
30% |
| • Attached |
3,069 |
1,231 |
40% |
| • Detached |
5,277 |
1,276 |
24% |
| County high share |
|
|
|
| • Anaheim |
297 |
211 |
71% |
| • Rancho Santa Marg. |
103 |
68 |
66% |
| • Foothill Ranch |
45 |
29 |
64% |
| • Santa Ana |
501 |
321 |
64% |
| • Aliso Viejo |
102 |
65 |
64% |
| • Garden Grove |
194 |
118 |
61% |
| • La Habra |
105 |
62 |
59% |
| County low share … |
|
|
|
| • Seal Beach |
274 |
2 |
1% |
| • Corona Del Mar |
213 |
6 |
3% |
| • Laguna Woods |
383 |
13 |
3% |
| • Laguna Beach |
395 |
26 |
7% |
| • Newport Beach |
628 |
47 |
7% |
More from this blog…
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales • Meltdown • distress | 11 Comments »
August 24th, 2009, 12:00 pm by Jon Lansner
The biweekly property Orange County housing inventory report by Steve Thomas at Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo says this of the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents in the MLS system as foreclosures or short sales) …
- As a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 30.0% of the market last week.
- 40% of the homes listed for sale under $1 million were “distressed.”
- 6% of the million-dollar listings were “distressed.”
Thomas also calculates a “market time” benchmark tracking how many months it theoretically takes to sell all the inventory in the local MLS for-sale listings at the current pace of pending deals being made. By this Thomas logic, it would take
- 2.45 months for buyers to gobble up all homes for sale at the current pace, but …
- 0.62 months to sell all all listed foreclosures — that’s just 3 weeks!
- 1.88 months for all listed short sales.
Here’s a look at various slices of the O.C. market as of last Thursday: total inventory listings; distressed property listings; and the share distressed listings have of total inventory supply on a percentage basis in each niche …
| Slice |
All inventory |
Distressed |
Share |
| By price … |
|
|
|
| • O.C. $0-$250k |
1,294 |
702 |
54% |
| • O.C. $250-$500k |
2,031 |
1,097 |
54% |
| • O.C. $500k-$750k |
1,674 |
456 |
27% |
| • O.C. $750k-$1m |
1,014 |
166 |
16% |
| • O.C. $1m-$1.5m |
900 |
85 |
9% |
| • O.C. $1.5m-$2m |
536 |
35 |
7% |
| • O.C. $2m-4m |
749 |
23 |
3% |
| • O.C. $4m+ |
407 |
7 |
2% |
| All O.C. |
8,531 |
2,559 |
30% |
| • Attached |
3,161 |
1,254 |
40% |
| • Detached |
5,345 |
1,299 |
24% |
| County high share … |
|
|
|
| • Anaheim |
318 |
226 |
71% |
| • Santa Ana |
512 |
344 |
67% |
| • Foothill Ranch |
38 |
25 |
66% |
| County low share … |
|
|
|
| • Seal Beach |
281 |
4 |
1% |
| • Corona Del Mar |
211 |
5 |
2% |
| • Laguna Woods |
380 |
13 |
3% |
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales • Altera Real Estate | 13 Comments »
August 10th, 2009, 2:31 pm by Mathew Padilla
Steve Thomas at Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo reports that the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents as foreclosures or short sales) was 2,559 last week, -57 vs. two weeks earlier or a -2.2% change.
As a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 29.5% of the market last week vs. 29.4% two weeks earlier.
Since Dec. 26, the number of distressed homes on the market has dropped 52% while the non-distressed supply is 27% lower.
Note that Thomas tracks foreclosures and short sales listed for sale. I have reported that the rate of seriously delinquent loans has been steadily rising in Orange County since early 2007. That means more potential foreclosures are in the works, though some owners will be saved by loan modifications.
Thomas writes:
“(T)he “next wave” of foreclosures that we have been hearing about since the beginning of the year still has not materialized. I have been hearing from industry experts and agents alike that the next wave is still coming. I am certain that they are right to a degree, that the distressed numbers will increase, just not at the great numbers that they are anticipating. The agents on the streets are telling me that they all have pockets full of buyers waiting for the right property to come onto the market and they all would love a “foreclosure deal.” This is where pent up demand really does exist. Any surge in foreclosures would be met with buyers in waiting. We can expect a lot of competition and continued multiple offers for some time to come.”
Bottom line: Thomas thinks we are in a seller’s market.
Here’s a look at various slices of the O.C. market as of last Thursday: total inventory listings; distressed property listings; and the share distressed listings have of total inventory supply on a percentage basis in each niche …
| Slice |
All inventory |
Distressed |
Share |
| By price … |
|
|
|
| • O.C. $0-$250k |
1,376 |
742 |
54% |
| • O.C. $250-$500k |
2,034 |
1,064 |
52% |
| • O.C. $500k-$750k |
1,692 |
446 |
26% |
| • O.C. $750k-$1m |
1,035 |
168 |
16% |
| • O.C. $1m-$1.5m |
936 |
86 |
9% |
| • O.C. $1.5m-$2m |
555 |
31 |
6% |
| • O.C. $2m-4m |
748 |
25 |
3% |
| • O.C. $4m+ |
398 |
6 |
2% |
| All O.C. |
8,681 |
2,559 |
29% |
| • Attached |
3,236 |
1,254 |
39% |
| • Detached |
5,426 |
1,297 |
24% |
| County high share |
|
|
|
| • Foothill Ranch |
30 |
22 |
73% |
| • Anaheim |
318 |
217 |
68% |
| • Santa Ana |
527 |
355 |
67% |
| • Rancho Santa Marg. |
99 |
64 |
65% |
| • Garden Grove |
215 |
131 |
61% |
| • La Habra |
108 |
62 |
57% |
| • Buena Park |
90 |
50 |
56% |
| County low share … |
|
|
|
| • Seal Beach |
288 |
5 |
2% |
| • Laguna Woods |
399 |
11 |
3% |
| • Corona Del Mar |
215 |
10 |
5% |
| • Laguna Beach |
398 |
27 |
7% |
| • Newport Coast |
185 |
13 |
7% |
More from this blog…
Posted in: Distressed sales | 7 Comments »
August 3rd, 2009, 11:53 am by Mathew Padilla
Foreclosures plummeted across Orange County in the second quarter vs. a year ago. Here’s a map showing the decreases by ZIP.

A couple of economists I interviewed for a Sunday story on foreclosures said they see monthly totals rising from the 800 range in June to around 1,000 houses and condos seized per month. But they don’t see foreclosures returning to the 1,300 to 1,400 a month peak of last summer.
What do you think?
Is a big second wave of foreclosures coming?
More from this blog…
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales • Polls | 12 Comments »
July 28th, 2009, 12:01 am by Mathew Padilla
Steve Thomas at Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo reports that the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents as foreclosures or short sales) was 2,616 last week, -150 vs. two weeks earlier or a -5% change. Some more facts:
- As a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 29% of the market last week vs. 31% two weeks earlier and 40% one year ago.
- There were just 331 foreclosures on the market, down 11% from two weeks earlier and less than a third of the peak 1,249 foreclosures for sale in early August 2008. Demand, the number of new pending sales within the last month, for foreclosures was 614 last week.
- “The problem right now is that there is tremendous demand for foreclosures, just not enough new foreclosures hitting the market,” Thomas said. He estimates at the current pace of sales it would take just two weeks to sell all the foreclosures for sale, compared to 1.42 months last year.
Here’s a look at various slices of the O.C. market as of last Thursday: total inventory listings; distressed property listings; and the share distressed listings have of total inventory supply on a percentage basis in each niche …
| Slice |
All inventory |
Distressed |
Share |
| By price … |
|
|
|
| • O.C. $0-$250k |
1,373 |
758 |
55% |
| • O.C. $250-$500k |
2,106 |
1,083 |
51% |
| • O.C. $500k-$750k |
1,698 |
454 |
27% |
| • O.C. $750k-$1m |
1,091 |
181 |
17% |
| • O.C. $1m-$1.5m |
1,000 |
86 |
9% |
| • O.C. $1.5m-$2m |
550 |
32 |
6% |
| • O.C. $2m-4m |
759 |
26 |
3% |
| • O.C. $4m+ |
406 |
5 |
1% |
| All O.C. |
8,895 |
2,616 |
29% |
| • Attached |
3,304 |
1,296 |
39% |
| • Detached |
5,573 |
1,312 |
24% |
| County high share |
|
|
|
| • Santa Ana |
546 |
369 |
68% |
| • Foothill Ranch |
33 |
22 |
67% |
| • Anaheim |
345 |
226 |
66% |
| • Buena Park |
93 |
59 |
63% |
| • Garden Grove |
215 |
135 |
63% |
| • Rancho Santa Marg. |
115 |
70 |
61% |
| • La Habra |
106 |
63 |
59% |
| County low share … |
|
|
|
| • Seal Beach |
291 |
5 |
2% |
| • Laguna Woods |
391 |
11 |
3% |
| • Corona Del Mar |
212 |
10 |
5% |
| • Newport Coast |
196 |
13 |
7% |
| • Laguna Beach |
390 |
27 |
7% |
More from this blog…
Posted in: Distressed sales | 12 Comments »
July 22nd, 2009, 2:00 am by Mathew Padilla
Investors who bought a condo next to Disneyland for $154,100 in June at a foreclosure auction, offered it for sale on Saturday at $229,900 and found a buyer the next day, according to listing agent Cheryl Ramirez of Vista Real Estate Corp. and my own visit to the auction.
I previously posted on buyers grabbing eight properties at the June 26 trustee’s sale in Santa Ana. On seven of the properties the average discount offered by the bank or servicer was 61%. (I didn’t have complete data on one property)
I’m tracking properties sold at that auction and one I visited on July 16 to see what buyers do with the properties. Eventually, I expect them all to end up as resales, but the question is when.
The condo across from Disneyland is at 1381 S. Walnut, Unit 2304 (A on the Google map). The servicer or bank asked for just $123,250 at the June 26 auction even though $358,096 was owed on the first mortgage. Potential buyers bid it up to $154,100.
Ramirez said she listed the Walnut property Saturday and had four offers by Sunday night. The winning bid was for more than the asking price of $229,900 and is an all-cash offer, she said. The buyer wants air conditioning installed, however.
It was hard to find comparable sales online to judge the listing price, because I believe sites like Redfin.com and Zillow.com also count properties sold at trustee’s sales or that revert to banks at those sales. Such prices are heavily discounted since buyers assume risk of property damage and may have to evict the former homeowner or a tenant.
Ramirez said banks are killing short sales only to dump properties at auction for a lot less. She said a bank would rather offer a property for $140,000 at auction than accept a $225,000 short sale offer. She said that’s because the trustee’s sale is a cleaner process — it clears the bank of all responsibility for the property.
I have seen data suggesting servicers are doing more short sales but they remain a minority of delinquent-loan resolutions. Most dud loans either go to foreclosure or get some kind of workout.
More from this blog…
Posted in: Auctions • Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales • Santa Ana auctions • distress | 21 Comments »
July 17th, 2009, 12:00 pm by Jeff Collins
 Click to enlarge
DataQuick reports that Orange County foreclosures made up just 29% of all home resales in June, the lowest percentage in more than a year, as banks fall behind in bringing delinquent loans to foreclosure and demand rises for discounted foreclosures.
DataQuick measures the percentage of homes sold that had been through a foreclosure in the previous 12 months. Most of those likely are bank-owned homes.
Foreclosure’s share of home resales peaked at 46% in January, according to DataQuick, and has been falling since (see chart). The percentage of foreclosed homes selling last month was the lowest since April 2008, when foreclosures made up 27% of resales.
One reason is there are fewer foreclosures on the market. Aliso Viejo broker Steve Thomas has reported that there were 374 foreclosures for sale in Orange County last week, just 4.2% of all homes on the market. First American CoreLogic data from May showed while the ratio of foreclosures to all loans dipped, the ratio of mortgages at least 90 days late but without a notice of default jumped to 6.3% in May, from 4.6% in April and 4% a year ago.
Foreclosure specialist Tom Moon of Huntington Beach reported that his own inventory of bank-owned homes for sale has declined to around 200 homes, down from nearly 400 earlier.
Moon has not filled four vacancies on his staff since the decline hit. In addition, his brokerage purchased a scanner to digitize records as a way to keep staff busy during the slow period.
Banks are bringing fewer foreclosed homes to market for a variety of reasons. More loan modifications are reducing the number of homes for sale. And more people are buying at home auctions, known as trustee’s sales, because banks now are offering large discounts (60% off at a recent foreclosure auction) — something they didn’t do when the bubble first burst.
In addition, banks simply are overwhelmed by the shear size of the backlog of homes in default or foreclosure.
Related news …
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales • foreclosure's share • numbers | 18 Comments »
July 16th, 2009, 8:00 am by Mathew Padilla
Steve Thomas at Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo reports that last week there were 374 foreclosures for sale in Orange County, which seems like an incredibly small number. It indicates demand is strong for cheaper foreclosures and inventory is slow to hit the market. It also does not include foreclosures in escrow or on the books of banks but not listed for sale.
Yesterday I reported that foreclosures have been increasing for the five months ended in June. But it can take months for a bank to bring a property to market, since it may have to evict the former owner, clean up the property and find a listing agent.
Thomas writes:
Foreclosures make up only 4.2% of the TOTAL active inventory and 26.7% are short sales. Foreclosures make up 17.7% of demand and short sales make up 35.4%. With so many buyers looking for a deal, many are turning to foreclosures only to find that there is just way too much demand and competition. They fly off the market as quickly as they come on. The expected market time for foreclosures is only .63 months, between two and three weeks. The expected market time would probably be even less, but it takes a bit of time to sort through multiple offers and communicate with the out of area banks. he number of short sales on the active market has dropped to 2,392, 115 fewer than two weeks ago and 50% off of the peak of 4,810 established in May of 2008. With so few foreclosures on the market, many buyers have turned to short sales where the competition has grown substantially and the expected market time has dropped to 2.01 months. Short sales have become an acceptable alternative to both buyers and lenders alike. Not only have buyers jumped on the short sale bandwagon, but lenders have approved more and more short sales in lieu of the lengthy foreclosure process. One year ago 94% of all distressed listings were at or below $750,000. Today, 88% is found below $750,000, dropping from 89% two weeks ago. The trend is more and more distressed homes are found above the $750,000 mark as the market moves from the subprime fallout to prime loans. The upper ranges are just beginning to catch up to the lower ranges. We have all read or heard about the foreclosure wave to come. It will not manifest itself in an increase in short sales. When more foreclosures do hit the market, there is so much pent up demand for the foreclosure “deal” that many will become pending sales just as fast as they are placed on the market. The reports from agents on the streets are that they are all working with buyers and they all would love to jump on the next foreclosure to hit the market.
I also am hearing that demand is strong for foreclosures, or other homes, priced at $500,000 or lower. But the market for anything $1 million or more is sluggish. We will have to see how the market from $500,000 to $1 million holds up as more foreclosures hit the market.
Here’s a look at various slices of the O.C. market as of last Thursday: total inventory listings; distressed property listings; and the share distressed listings have of total inventory supply on a percentage basis in each niche …
| Slice |
All inventory |
Distressed |
Share |
| By price … |
|
|
|
| • O.C. $0-$250k |
1,431 |
798 |
56% |
| • O.C. $250-$500k |
2,154 |
1,180 |
55% |
| • O.C. $500k-$750k |
1,631 |
452 |
28% |
| • O.C. $750k-$1m |
1,089 |
186 |
17% |
| • O.C. $1m-$1.5m |
1,003 |
89 |
9% |
| • O.C. $1.5m-$2m |
564 |
30 |
5% |
| • O.C. $2m-4m |
756 |
24 |
3% |
| • O.C. $4m+ |
405 |
6 |
1% |
| All O.C. |
8,946 |
2,766 |
31% |
| • Attached |
3,374 |
1,373 |
41% |
| • Detached |
5,553 |
1,380 |
25% |
| County high share |
|
|
|
| • Foothill Ranch |
31 |
24 |
77% |
| • Santa Ana |
559 |
405 |
72% |
| • Anaheim |
362 |
238 |
66% |
| • Garden Grove |
206 |
133 |
65% |
| • Rancho Santa Marg. |
107 |
67 |
63% |
| • Buena Park |
92 |
56 |
61% |
| • La Habra |
96 |
57 |
59% |
| County low share … |
|
|
|
| • Seal Beach |
298 |
5 |
2% |
| • Laguna Woods |
412 |
15 |
4% |
| • Corona Del Mar |
216 |
9 |
4% |
| • Laguna Beach |
394 |
24 |
6% |
| • Newport Coast |
202 |
16 |
8% |
More from this blog…
Posted in: Defaults & Foreclosures • Distressed sales | 21 Comments »
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