August 2008 Foreclosures Jump 80 Percent

August Foreclosures Jump 80 Percent: Report By: PAUL JACKSONSeptember 8, 2008 Nearly 102,000 homeowners lost their properties to foreclosure in August, up nearly 6 percent from July and more than 80 percent higher than in August 2007, according to data released Monday morning by real estate information data aggregator ForeclosureS.com. So far this year, lenders have repossessed a record 656,545 properties nationwide, and remain on track to repossess more than 1 million nationwide by year-end, the company reported. Year to date, 1.45 million homeowners — or 19.6 of every 1,000 U.S. households — faced pre-foreclosure actions by lenders, almost double the number a year ago. There is some good news: pre-foreclosures actions by lenders slowed slightly from July and more than half of the pre-foreclosure as well as REO activities can be attributed to just three states — Arizona, California and Florida. As she has throughout the crisis, ForeclosureS.com president Alexis McGee continued to suggest that the housing market was showing signs of stabilization; it’s a position she has taken for at least the past four months in the face of rising foreclosures. “While we continue to see record numbers of foreclosures and actions that may lead to foreclosure, and despite the higher 6.1 percent August unemployment rate, it does appear that the overall situation is beginning to stabilize,” McGee said. “Importantly, many regions of the country — particularly the Northeast and Midwest — have seen less-dramatic increase in foreclosures and pre-foreclosure activity in 2008 compared with 2007.” The Southwest region, in contrast, reported by far the most foreclosed property filings year-to-date, 348,019 or 12.7 filings per 1,000 households. The Southeast, meanwhile, leads the nation in pre-foreclosure actions filed year to date with 477,177, or 27.5 filings per 1,000 households. For more information, visit http://www.foreclosures.com

Most Expensive Housing Market in the Nation

La Jolla Tops List as Most Expensive Housing Market in Nation By: PAUL JACKSONSeptember 9, 2008 Although both are waterfront cities, something besides the salt water separates La Jolla, Calif. on the Pacific Ocean from Sioux City, Iowa on the Missouri River — like a $1.7 million dollar difference in the cost of homes, according to a study released Tuesday morning. In an annual comparison of similar homes in 315 U.S. markets, La Jolla topped the chart as the most expensive real estate market in the nation with a $1,841,667 average home price. Sixteen hundred miles away in America’s heartland sits Sioux City, the most affordable real estate market in America, where a similar home would cost $133,459, the study found. The study, released by real estate brokerage Coldwell Banker, compares the cost of similar 2,200 square foot, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath homes in 315 markets across the United States. See more study results. La Jolla and Sioux City are not alone in representing California and the Midwest, either. In fact, eight out of ten of the country’s most expensive housing markets are in California, according to the study, and eight Midwestern cities make the list of the nation’s 10 most affordable home markets. “This year’s study comes at an interesting time in our nation’s history with the impact of the housing correction and mortgage financing serving as critical economic issues in the presidential election,” said Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate. The cumulative average sales price of the four-bedroom homes surveyed in the 315 U.S. markets covered in the Coldwell Banker HPCI was $403,738, a 4.4 percent decline from the $422,343 reported one year ago. La Jolla edged out perennial most-expensive contender Greenwich, Conn. ($1,787,000) and other West Coast markets as the most expensive U.S. market in the study, which should be telling; the housing mess has been centered in California. Beverly Hills was the most expensive studied in the U.S. market last year at $2.21 million, Coldwell Banker said; the study does not include Manhattan, however, citing a lack of relevant data. The Northeast Corridor (from Maine to Washington, D.C.) and California dominate all but five of the most expensive “top 40″ U.S. markets slots, according to the study — with just one town from those regions (Augusta, Maine) appearing among the top 40 most affordable markets. Texas, led by Arlington, has six of the study’s 40 most affordable markets. For more information, visit http://www.coldwellbanker.com.