The seemingly endless number of foreclosures have not totally ceased, however, they have lessened. For the first time in five years, the annual number of foreclosures fell by 2 percent from this time last year. According to a report from RealtyTrac®, an Irvine, CA-based company specializing in information pertaining to distressed real estate, foreclosure activity declined by 9 percent last month, compared to the figures released in March, and fell 2 percent from April 2009.
Not to rain on this parade, but while the number of households facing foreclosure is finally abating, there are still far too many homeowners facing the reality that they will likely lose their homes in the coming months. Industry figures released by Lender Processing Services (LPS) illustrate that nearly 8 million homeowners have missed at least one mortgage payment and are at risk of facing foreclosure proceedings. LPS is one of America’s leading providers of mortgage analytics, so the data they have released is unyielding.
The Obama administration’s most-recent program, the “Hardest Hit Fund,” may provide some much-needed relief and slow the pace of foreclosures even further. Funded through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the “Hardest Hit Fund” has bestowed approximately $2.1 billion upon 10 states – Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina – in two rounds. The intent is to assist homeowners who are either unemployed, underwater on their mortgage or both.
As unemployment figures improve, foreclosure figures will ultimately decline. It will certainly take some time for the economy as a whole to fully heal, but the most important idea to hold onto at this point is that the country’s fiscal situation is slowly improving.
Loading ...
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment