April Foreclosure Filings Reach Record High
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008For the month of April, foreclosure filings increased by 65 percent from last year. With 243,000 new foreclosure listings for last month, local governments are being put into a compromising position because of the negative impact to the property tax collection.
In their monthly survey of foreclosure filings, RealtyTrac reported that the record of 239,851 foreclosure filings last August 2007 was surpassed by last month’s results. This is considered to be the most number of foreclosure filings in a month since January 2005. The said report included data for default notices, bank repossessions and auction sales. For the month of April, 54,574 properties were actually repossessed.
Such high number of foreclosure filings also has a great impact on home prices. With the already-saturated market of foreclosure homes for sale, most communities are worried about the dwindling tax collection. After all, declining home values effectively reduce the amount of taxes needed to be paid.
Troubled states like California, Florida and Arizona will be hit most likely by this bad news. Having the highest foreclosures rate in the nation has certainly caused home prices to plummet in these regions.
Nationwide, home values have declined by 7.7 percent, the greatest since 1982 based on data from the National Association of Realtors. Also, the inventory of homes on the market has increased by 3.5 percent for April.
As legislators struggle to find a long-term solution to the foreclosure crisis, there is still a great possibility that the next months will continue to bring in more foreclosure properties. Considering that delinquent payments are on the rise, this is not at all surprising.
Buyers who consider these foreclosed homes as great investment opportunities will somehow consider this news a blessing in disguise. With foreclosure filings increasing, getting gorgeous properties at a fraction of their current market value is certainly a possibility. The best news is that the large inventory of foreclosed houses will mean more choices.
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