Repo Homes Blog

Record numbers of distressed commercial properties and residential units in Tampa are cutting down the revenues of Tampa County and banks operating in the area.

County officials said that because of the lower prices of foreclosures, properties in nine redevelopment areas declined in value by about 20 percent and that major tax districts in the county lost a total of $742 million in taxable real estate value over the past 12 months.

The number of Tampa repossessed homes reached almost 800 units in April, marking a 23-percent jump from total REO homes one year earlier. Similarly, the number of repossessed homes in Florida also climbed up to 9,259 units, more than seven percent higher than the 8,643 units taken back by lenders in March. These increases in REO units have been cutting down property values despite the decline in overall foreclosure filings in the state.

Tampa County appraisers said that the value effects of repossession property listings will certainly weaken the ability of the county to finance its redevelopment projects and to pay its yearly $13.5 loan payments for the Tampa Convention Center.

They also said that although the values of commercial properties did not decline significantly in all areas of the county, property values in Community Reinvestment Act areas lost almost $200 million in property value over the year.

The Channel District lost about 30 percent in real estate value after record numbers of condo units defaulted and the rest remained unsold. Office towers in downtown Tampa are also struggling as vacancy rates continue to rise.

Banks are also suffering from nonperforming mortgage loans. The Bank of Florida in Tampa, a subsidiary of Bank of Florida Corporation, was closed by the FDIC last week together with two other area banks. The bank lost $147.6 million last year mainly due to delinquent commercial mortgage loans.

The three banks lost a total of $1.22 billion in loans for the acquisition and construction of commercial properties and for the operation of other assets.

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The number of REO properties in Portland is still relatively high despite intensified efforts by Home Affordable Modification Program officials to save troubled homes.

A total of 2,277 homes in metro Portland became distressed in April as they were hit with default and foreclosure notices. In Multnomah County, where Portland is situated, 567 more homes entered foreclosure in March, far above the monthly average of 140 homes getting into foreclosure since 2006.

Statewide, foreclosure activity slowed down, but the 3,813 homes hit with filings in April was still a big percentage of all households in Oregon. One foreclosure was filed for every 427 households during the month, putting Oregon 13th in a ranking of states based on rates of foreclosures.

Of the nearly 4,000 Oregon homes that became distressed in April, a total of 1,387 units were already REO properties, accounting for 36.4 percent of all filings in the state. Mirroring the downward trend of foreclosure activity nationwide, the pace of repossessed homes in Oregon in April dropped by 6.8 percent over the month and dropped by 0.6 percent over the year.

Based on the most recent data from the Treasury Department, efforts to modify troubled loans in Portland intensified, but only 2,346 mortgages were modified under the Home Affordable Modification Program as of the end of April. Many still moved on to lists of Portland repossessed homes and pushed down home price levels.

The median price for homes sold in April dropped by 4 percent over the year to $240,000. Even homes in high-end areas were affected by repossessed property sales, as homes previously listed at $799,000 were being offered for $699,000.

According to some housing advocates, banks are again to blame for the failure of HAMP to cut down substantially the number of repossessed homes in Portland. They said that banks modified mortgages based on stated income and not on verified income. When it was time to review the mortgages for permanent modification, many of the modified mortgages failed, eventually adding homes covered by these mortgages to lists of REO properties.

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Las Vegas home prices improved in April as bank repo homes for sale dropped in number and in percentage during the month, based on data from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

As the percentage of repossession houses for sale dropped, the price median for all houses sold in April increased to $142,000, marking a jump of 4.4 percent from the March median of $136,000 and an increase of 0.2 percent from the April 2009 median of $141,720. The price increase in April marked the first time prices rose year-over-year.

During the month, Las Vegas repossessed homes accounted for 43 of total home sales, down substantially from 53 percent two months earlier. In contrast, the percentage of short sales jumped from 22 percent to 27 percent of total sales.

Analysts at Home Builders Research contended that home prices in April surged because even first time home buyers turned to new homes when they could not find lower-priced bank repo homes. A total of 708 new homes were sold in March and another 707 new homes were sold in April, marking substantial increases from the 400 new homes sold in February.

Because of the sudden surge in demand for new homes, the median for newly-built houses increased to $208,178 in March, compared to January and February.

In contrast to the slowdown in foreclosure sales in metro Las Vegas, the number of repossessed homes in Nevada spiked in April to 4,096 units, up by 57.5 percent from 2,601 units in March.

Among the top four states in foreclosure rate, Nevada was the only one which posted a month-over-month increase in filings. Also, it was still on top of the foreclosure rate chart. Arizona, Florida and California all improved their foreclosure situation.

Additionally, the percentage of bank repo homes in Nevada as a portion of total filings in the state increased from 17.6 percent in March to 25.3 percent in April. Total foreclosure filings increased by 10 percent over the month to more than 16,200 filings.

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The April tax credit deadline created both a positive and a negative trend in housing markets in the U.S. In Houston, the rush to beat the deadline resulted in higher number of homes sold and higher prices of dwellings. On the other hand, post-tax credit also saw rising number of Houston repossessed homes and increasing interest rates, which are both negative developments for the residential property market.

Orlando repossessed homes accounted for more than 46 percent of total home resales in April, based on sales figures from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. These homes also sold more quickly, with the lower-priced units snapped up by first time home buyers who were beating the federal tax incentive deadline.

The Department of Justice has cited the problem-solving scheme used to address Indianapolis repo homes problems, and foreclosure-related concerns in another four cities in the country, as a good example of how to deal with vacant and foreclosed properties all around the U.S.

Lower-priced Miami repo homes have been helping push up house sales. In March, sales of all types of homes increased by a whopping 43.3 percent from the previous month and by 43 percent from one year earlier to a total of 8,658 units.

There are more opportunities for buying lower-priced Orlando repo homes as foreclosure filings continued to spike in the metro area and as home prices continued to fall.

Georgian Bank could have survived the housing crisis and could be selling off Atlanta repo homes now if its biggest depositor did not cash out.

The still rising number of Fort Lauderdale repo homes has put the city on the Forbes list of the top ten U.S. cities in free fall as of April 2010. Forbes compiled a list of ten cities in the worst level of economic distress out of the 40 large metro areas it surveyed based on unemployment rate, foreclosure pace and prospects for recovery.