The industry's shadows are shrinking, according to CoreLogic. The residential shadow inventory of unlisted REOs and soon-to-be REOs stood at 1.6 million units as of July 2011, based on the analytics firm's calculations. CoreLogic says that tally represents a supply of five months and is down from 1.7 million units in April and 1.9 million units in July of 2010.

As the economy continues to gradually return to its pre-Recession greatness, the housing market continues to be a deterrant for progress and a statement of pessimism for all homeowners.  You've heard the same bad news over and over again: CNN reports 11% of homes are vacant, Mortgage rates are at 50 year lows says the Wall Street Journal.  It seems that anarchy is upon us!  So you would think. 

These statistics should represent only one thing to investors: opportunity.  The opportunity to make significant money by improvements and rehab, perhaps get that dreamhouse at a discount!  My point is, if there has ever been a time to invest in this market, it is now.  Solid and consistent recovery in different sectors of the economy suggests that, eventually, the housing market will catch up to it.  With this in mind, investment projects should be creating equity from rises in property value alone, and then there's ARV to consider.  There is a profit to be made on acquisition alone, and that enough should be an enticing point. 

Experts in the field also tend to agree with the hypothesis that it is a great time to invest in housing.  On June 4, 2011, the Wall Street Journal, in their article, "Why it's Time to Buy a Home," home affordability, in inverse relation to Mortgage Rates, has increased, making home prices cheaper than ever before!  Continuing onward in its profession, the Business Periodical made it a point to mention that, in the present time, tax deductions on mortgage interest exist, meaning those in a higher tax bracket will be given a significant break (this article can be read, in full, under the title 'Why it's Time to Buy a Home' in the 3 articles you HAVE to read section of this website).  

Although the news reports this as a terrible instance of the 21st century, it does not have to be perceived this way entirely.  Homes are being offered in many different fashions at SIGNIFICANT DISCOUNTS.  Guaranteed that these deals won't be effective permanently, so if you have ever considered investing in homes, this is the time to do it!

  

Come meet Robert Shemin!
Block off May 28th on your calendars. Robert Shemin will be in Secaucus leading a full day Real Estate Wealth Creation Workshop at the Crown Plaza Hotel.  Shemin is a mega successful real estate investor and Wall Street Journal best-selling author of "Secrets of a Millionaire Real Estate Investor.”  Admission is only $30.

Learn More about Robert Shemin

1.8M Distressed Homes Could Weigh on Home Prices for Year

The U.S. had 1.8 million distressed homes in January that had yet to be listed for sale, a “shadow inventory” that is expected to weigh on home prices for years.  Market researcher CoreLogic said Wednesday that the shadow inventory had shrunk slightly the past year, from 2 million homes in January 2010.

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North Jersey Housing Vacancy Rates Rising

According to the Census, 16,658 undefined or one in 21 undefined houses, condominiums and apartments in Bergen County sat vacant in 2010, compared with one in 38 in 2000. In Passaic County, 9,181 undefined or one in 19 undefined were vacant last year, up from one in 27 a decade ago. Nationally, about one in nine year-round homes were vacant.

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60 Minutes Investigates 'Cutting Corners' On Foreclosures (VIDEO)

60 Minutes takes a new look at the state of the foreclosure crisis, interviewing homeowners, a regulator and so-called robo-signers, who approved thousands of foreclosure documents daily without reading them."It was just a matter of cutting corners," Sheila Bair, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, tells CBS' Scott Pelley.

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Watch the Video

 

Last summer, as President Obama’s premier plan to save millions of Americans from foreclosure foundered, the administration tossed a new life preserver to homeowners.

State by State Estimate of Shadow Inventory

Although the foreclosure crisis at times appears like an all-encompassing national problem, there are states and metropolitan areas that are harder impacted than others. From the onset of the foreclosure crisis, four states have continually had relatively worse foreclosure problems:

Arizona , California , Florida and Nevada . These four states still account for 42 percent of the foreclosure inventory today. Adding Illinois , New York and New Jersey – other states with high incidence of foreclosures, brings the share up to almost 60 percent.

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Regulators to Set Rules on Mortgage Securities

Banks will be forced to retain some risk when they securitize all but the most conservative mortgages under rules that regulators are expected to vote on Tuesday. But the banks are likely to be given wide leeway in determining what risks to keep.  Major banks, hoping to revive the mortgage securitization market that crumbled when many securitizations proved to be anything but safe, had asked regulators to define almost any mortgage undefined except for the most extreme types no longer being written anyway undefined as a “qualified residential mortgage.”

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S&P Case-Shiller Index Records Another Drop in Home Prices

Data released Tuesday morning by Standard & Poor’s show that home prices are continuing to trend downwards. The 10-city and 20-city composites of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell 0.9 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively, in January 2011 when compared to the previous month.  David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s  noted that the 10-city composite is still 2.8 percent higher and the 20-city is 1.1 percent above their respective April 2009 lows, but he warns that both series have moved closer to a confirmed double-dip for six consecutive months.

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1) 20% Jump in Foreclosure Activity
2) A Bigger and Badder Realty Robot

20% Jump in Foreclosure Activity

This past weekend, Kevin Wolf of New Jersey's Administrative Office of the Courts reported an expected 20 percent rise in foreclosures this year.  New Jersey has one of the highest percentages of non-current loans, according to Lender Processing Services (LPS).  Other states in the top five include Florida, Nevada, Mississippi and Georgia. 

This all points to another turbulent year for the real estate market. A turbulent year full of opportunities for investors and realtors alike.  Make sure you stay up-to-date with new flipping rules and regulations.

A Bigger and Badder Realty Robot 

As you've noticed, we've been making some major changes to Realty Robot.  We've added a directory of local real estate groups as well as an events calendar in the resources tab. 
  
Please bear with us over the next few months as we continue to make changes and improve the website. 

Realty Robot