subject: Foreclosure News: Substantial Drop In Florida Home Prices [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 while the housing market remained in a state of crisis, home prices continued their downward trend and this was evident in the foreclosure listings. More than 62,000 homes began their journey towards foreclosure in the state of Florida during the month of August. 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.
Foreclosure news and listings are a great way to locate those properties that are being sold by banks and government-backed agencies at substantially lower prices compared to their market values. 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. Therefore, real estate investors have been waiting for such a situation.
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. But home sellers will have to consider the short sale where the selling price is lower than the amount that they still owe the lender. 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. New tax laws also mean that he can also save on the tax that he would have been required to pay because the amount forgiven would have been regarded by the IRS as income for the seller.
by: Michael Bartonolis
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