Attn. Cali Agents: REO's are now 34% of California Home Sales

The term real-estate owned (or REO) is taking on new meaning in California, where REO properties recently accounted for 34-percent of the state's home sales in April, according to a new report from ForeclosureRadar—a company that tracks all foreclosure data in the Western state.

ForeclosureRadar says the data collected in April hints at what lies ahead, and it's not necessarily good news.

In April alone, California set a new record when 44,101 new notices of default were filed. In addition, Notices of Trustee Sale increased 7.8-percent to 29,892, dwarfing the previous record. The number of foreclosures sold in California auctions (22,838) also increased 44-percent when compared to March.

“We expected a significant increase in auction sales based on previous default patterns,” said Sean O'Toole, founder of ForeclosureRadar. “Unfortunately, the continued increases in defaults tell us that the worst is still ahead. It is time for lenders to accept this reality, and start approving short sales rather than forcing more than two-thirds of troubled homeowners through the entire foreclosure process.”

ForeclosureRadar also painted a somewhat bleak picture for lenders, saying they “added 22,324 properties to their 'real estate owned' inventory last month." “Based on these levels, lenders are increasing REO inventories 1.36-times faster than they are able to resell them,” ForeclosureRadar said.

Nevada, California, Arizona post top foreclosure rates

Despite a 5 percent month-over-month decrease in foreclosure activity in April, Nevada continued to document the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate. One in every 146 Nevada households received a foreclosure filing in April, 3.6 times the national average, and the state’s foreclosure activity was up 95 percent from April 2007.

California posted the second highest state foreclosure rate in April, with one in every 204 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Foreclosure filings were reported on 64,683 California properties in April, down less than 1 percent from the previous month but still the most of any state and an increase of 112 percent from April 2007.

Arizona foreclosure activity in April increased 26 percent from the previous month and 181 percent from April 2007, helping to bump the state’s foreclosure rate up to third highest among the states. Foreclosure filings were reported on 11,620 Arizona properties in March, one in every 224 total households.

With one in every 242 households receiving a foreclosure filing in April, Florida documented the nation’s fourth highest state foreclosure rate. Foreclosure filings were reported on 35,264 Florida properties during the month, the nation’s second highest total. Florida foreclosure activity increased nearly 17 percent on a month-to-month basis and 146 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Colorado foreclosure activity in April was down nearly 3 percent from the previous month and up just 3 percent from April 2007, but the state’s foreclosure rate still registered fifth highest among the states. One in every 349 Colorado households received a foreclosure filing in April, nearly 1.5 times the national average.

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 were Maryland, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan and Massachusetts.

Five Star Default Servicing Conference and Expo: September 17-20, 2008

There is a very good industry event coming up September 17-20 in Dallas, TX. Its the Five Star Default Servicing Conference and Expo. This is a great networking event for agents and anyone else in the REO or default servicing industry.

The Five Star Default Servicing Conference and Expo is a one-of–a-kind event that brings together default pros and provides them the rare opportunity to discuss their industry—where it is, where it’s going, and ways it can operate even better. The Five Star is the largest conference in the industry and the second largest in the entire mortgage business.

Slated to play host to 3,000 default professionals spanning the nation, the 2008 conference is poised to be the biggest ever. The fifth Five Star to date, this year’s event will be held at the perfect point in time: The industry currently is experiencing the highest rate ever of defaulted properties in the marketplace, with a resulting surge in the need for qualified professionals to handle the increased load.

You can make a lot of good connections at this event. It is expensive though and if you are coming from out of state, the trip, hotel, entrance fee, etc can add up to be quite expensive.

If the event is out of your budget, the REO Agent 411 list for $99.99 will provide you with the contact info for all of the companies that will be at this event and hundreds more. This way you can start soliciting them for business ASAP. If you don't have a copy of this list yet, you really need to order one. It will become the backbone of your REO and BPO career.

OFHEO: Home Prices Decline in 1st Quarter

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) released its House Price Index (HPI) for the first quarter of 2008 on Thursday. The new report says on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the prices of homes in the United States fell 1.7-percent between the first quarter of this year and the fourth quarter of 2007. In addition, OFHEO says home prices in its index dropped 3.1-percent between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008—making it the largest price drop in the purchase-only index's 17-year history. Full Story