Foreclosures Down Since January

 

Many banks are delaying resolutions and preventing the market from flooding with distressed properties.
Courtesy of MovingToNovaHelps.com

The number of U.S. homes in default or foreclosure fell to 7.04 million as of July 31 from a high of 8.12 million in January, according to Lender Processing Services Inc.

Defaulted mortgages as of July took an average 469 days to reach foreclosure, up from 319 days in January 2009. That’s an indication lenders — with the help of the government loan modification programs — are delaying resolutions and preventing the market from flooding with distressed properties, said Herb Blecher, senior vice president for analytics at LPS. As long as home owners stay in their homes, they can take on landscape improvements.

“The efforts to date have been worthwhile,” Blecher said. “They both helped borrowers stay in their homes and kept that supply of distressed properties on the market somewhat limited.”

– Courtesy of Bloomberg News