Are Foreclosures Really Declining?

RealtyTrac – a leading provider of tracking data on Foreclosure Activity, used by many private and public sector organizations to help evaluate foreclosure trends, reported late last week on a national level foreclosure activity dropped 9% in April.

Sounds like good news right?

Well – hold on just one minute there, Bucko. There may, indeed, be more to the story.

• What if there were lots and lots of homeowners, who can’t afford their payments and have realized that the banks are taking a long time to take action against them?
• What if some of those homeowners just stopped making their payments and are staying in their homes, making no payments for up to a year or more?

Diana Olick of CNBC says these are questions that have to be considered. Here is her article from May 13, 2010 on this very subject called “Banks Ignore Delinquent Borrowers”

I’ll hang on here while you go read that.

OK – Done?

So how does that affect owners that are operating outside of this part of the market? You know who I'm talking about - people who have equity in their house and would like to sell.

While no one knows for sure when those foreclosures are going to hit the market – or if they are in your town or your neighborhood, one thing is for sure. If they do, it will affect the value of your home in a negative way.

Again – every situation is different and you have to work with your Realtor to determine the best course of action for you. Having said that, if you are interested in selling, come up with marketing plan and a price point that will move your house quickly. The idea of “Trying a high price” for a while – may have passed.

If you have a need to move for one reason of another, such as wanting more space, less traffic, nearer to work or school – just get it done. Even though the economy shows signs of getting better, the decline in housing prices may not be over – not for quite a while.