subject: The Housing Market And Foreclosure News In Florida [print this page] According to foreclosure news in the state of Florida, the number foreclosed homes that are in the market in August 2009 is still at nearly record levels. And as market levels lingered at record lows, the prices for homes continued to fall as indicated in the foreclosure listings. In the month of August, the state of Florida witnessed more than 62,000 foreclosure filings. This was the second highest level for the Sunshine State and represented a rise of more than 10 percent. Initial default notices during this month increased by 12 percent while scheduled auctions rose by 13 percent. Therefore, for home buyers who are seeking very low priced homes, such as real estate investors, foreclosure news in Florida remained encouraging.
An effective way to search for those homes that have been foreclosed by government-backed agencies and banks and are in the market at bargain prices when compared to their market values, are foreclosure news and listings. These properties are either government foreclosures or repo homes. These developments may be regarded as negative events for those who are losing their properties but they are positive developments for those who could not previously afford the home prices. And on top of the much lower prices, mortgage rates are also staying within the five percent range for fixed 30-year mortgages with fixed rates. Foreclosure news at the moment is good news for home buyers because the values of foreclosed properties have dropped to values that are five to 40 percent lower compared to their actual market values. Thus, this is a situation that real estate investors have been waiting for.
But on the other hand, home sellers may also benefit from this kind of foreclosure news in which there are a lot of home buyers searching for bargain prices. However, sellers may have to be contented with a short sale in which the price is less than the outstanding loan balance of the homeowner. For the short sale to work, the lender has to accept the proceeds as payment for the loan balance and forgive the difference. Thus, this kind of foreclosure news may also be positive for the home seller because he can avoid foreclosure after the short sale. Changes in the tax code will now allow him to save on the tax that the IRS would have required him to pay because the amount that has been forgiven by the lender was previous considered by the IRS as income for the seller.
by: Michael Bartonolis
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