Foreclosures – The Next Wave

The housing market had taken a little bit of a back seat to the news in general across this country. There have been reports of a “light at the end of the tunnel” and a slowing of the rate at of decline, but are things really getting better?

The number of reported foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac.com has risen by 18% in May of 2009. That’s 1800 houses for every 10,000 across this great nation. Many parts of the country have seen a rate less than this, but on average there are still tons of houses in the pipeline that will adversely affect our economy.

California for instance, has imposed a 90-day moratorium on all foreclosures. This new law will make lenders prove that they’ve done all that they could to keep homeowners in their homes. Shamefully, a law is needed to force those who can really help, do just that.

You’ve seen extraordinary measures taken to rescue the housing market, which many believe is the root of what ails the economy overall. What a mess this turned out to be, and all because of corporate greed, allowed to creep in due a lack of solid regulation.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has reported a level of delinquencies not seen since 1972, a good number of which will run out the entire foreclosure clock, which means another wave of foreclosures is likely on the horizon. High level decisions will have to be made to stem the tide once again.

The federal moratorium rolled out in December has expired (April 1), but many lenders have continued to aggressively rework terms of mortgage loans.

Speaking with a friend of mine who considers herself an industry insider, I learned that it is likely so many defaults in the pipeline that it will be many months clearing them out once the intake slowed to a somewhat normal pace.

With the tremendous numbers of job losses, there will be many more homes headed for the ranks of misfortune, necessitating a continuance of programs to help people retain their most valuable asset.

Just because the housing crash has fallen from the top headlines for a moment, don’t be lured into thinking we’ve rounded the corner. A bumpy road still lies ahead for the housing industry in general.

The foreclosures of this next wave will have many grousing that the measures taken by the government and lenders thus far are failing, but what we will really be seeing is a system practically strangled by overwhelming numbers.

All in all, we’ll have to ride this one out for months to come and hope some measure of progress begins to show in the second half of this year.

After all, no one should be without a home in this great nation.

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