Some more statistics to help bring the overall real estate market picture into better focus for you. For us in North Idaho, the grim market in California has had a direct effect because it is considered a "feeder" state to North Idaho. When they can't sell their California properties, they can't buy property in Idaho. Which slows down certain segments or our local market compared to what we saw a few short years ago.
Foreclosure is a hot topic among the press lately. It's hard to turn on the television or open up a newspaper without seeing a story about it.
But what's most interesting about foreclosures is that they appear to be concentrated in certain areas of the country.
According to the foreclosure-tracking service RealtyTrac, 4 states accounted for more than half of nation's foreclosures last month.
And those 4 states -- California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada -- share some very similar characteristics including:
- Their respective popularity with retirees and real estate investors
- Their large home value increases earlier this decade
In looking at the rest of the country's foreclosure data, the remaining 46 states combined accounted for just 48.8 percent of October's foreclosures.
That's 1.06% per state on average.
Now, this isn't meant to diminish the impact of foreclosures on the economy -- quite the opposite. Foreclosures harm to the national housing market because most mortgage lenders are national. But, we highlight statistics like this to show that the foreclosure "problem" isn't so bad in most parts of the country, relative.
Furthermore, mortgage lenders are intervening to slow the flow of defaults nationwide. Following the lead of JP Morgan and Bank of America, CitiMortgage just announced a sweeping plan to help homeowners avoid default and keep their homes.
In a way, for as good as this news is for homeowners, it's equally bad news for home buyers. As the number of foreclosures decrease in any given market, it reduces the inventory of homes for sale. Lower supply levels often lead to higher sale prices and less room to negotiate. And this may be what the banks are trying to accomplish.
Janna Rankin Scharf provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.
No matter how grand or modest your real estate dreams may be, you can turn to me in confidence. Give me a call today and let me know what I can do to be of service to you!
Janna Rankin Scharf AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS 208.651.9700
Hi Jana,
I read about this just the other day. Hard to believe, isn't it! What's more unbelievable are the price tags on some of those foreclosures in Las Vegas.
Janna - I want you to know that Sacramento has improved it's ranking in the foreclosure statistics. We were once #4. We are now improved enough to claim #7. We'll take any improvement we can get :-)
Janna- The market in Oregon is also feed by California. Typically we follow suit 6-9 months later from what is happening there. Hopefully the Home Retention programs will slow down these foreclosures!