Showing posts with label bank owned. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bank owned. Show all posts

Friday, July 17, 2009

South Florida Bank Seizures Fall 16% In Q2 of 2009

Banks repossessed 16 percent fewer South Florida properties in the second quarter of this year than were seized during the same period a year ago despite an increased number of foreclosure filings in the tricounty region, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Lenders repossessed 5,992 properties in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties between April and June of 2009 compared to seizing 7,098 properties in the second quarter of 2008. In 2007, lenders seized 2,167 South Florida properties in the second quarter, according to the report produced using court records.

"Government intervention - whether it be foreclosure moratoriums or mortgage modification programs - is the primary reason for the decrease in the number of repossessed properties," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC. "That being said, the number of foreclosure filings are back on the rise in the tricounty South Florida region. It is difficult to predict if the foreclosure actions will ultimately end up as Real Estate Owned by banks known as REOs or simply nonperforming mortgages."

More than 52,000 foreclosures have been initiated in South Florida in the first half of the year, putting the tricounty region on pace for more than 100,000 actions in 2009.

By comparison, lenders filed about 38,000 foreclosures actions in the first six months of 2008 and more than 75,000 actions for the year. In 2007, banks filed nearly 8,000 actions in the first half of the year and more than 32,000 for the year, according to data from the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™.

Another factor contributing to the decreasing number of bank repossessions in South Florida despite the increasing number of foreclosure filings is the lengthy legal process necessary before a lender can repossess a residence.

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Interested in buying multiple units from developers or banks? Be sure to visit the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Short Sales Account For 31% Of South Florida Properties For Sale

BY WILLIAM BETANCOURT

There were a total of 83,445 residences listed for sale in South Florida as of June 12th, 2009. Of that, 25,814, or 31 percent are in some stage of the short sale process, according to a new report based on the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™.

“The month of May proved to be busy at the courthouse recording office accounting for 1,899 new Lis Pendens filings in Miami-Dade County, 4,442 filings in Broward County, and 2,661 filings in Palm Beach counties, respectively,” said William Betancourt, a licensed Florida real estate agent and short sale specialist with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. “The real story is the 2,866 filings in Miami-Dade, 4,223 filings in Broward, and 2,029 filings in Palm Beach in the previous month of April and what June has in store ending the second quarter with more distressed inventory. The spike isn’t likely to continue to rise.

"However, we will still see a continuing stream of filings throughout the remaining two quarters.”

Over the past two months, 18,120 new properties are in pre-foreclosure in the three counties. Broward County accounts for 47.8 percent of the new filings, with Dade at 26.3 percent and Palm Beach County with the remaining 25.9 percent, according to the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™, which tracks the filing of Lis Pendens notices through court records since January 1st, 2007.

To date, the database contains more than 158,000 filings.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

South Florida Inventory Falls 1.1% To 81,000 Residences

South Florida residential real estate inventory dropped by 1.1 percent in the last week, dragging the total number of resales available down to 81,159 properties, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Residential resale inventory slipped by 888 properties between June 15 and June 22 for an average decreased of 127 properties per day. On June 1, there were 83,491 residential resales on the market in the tri-county region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, according to the report compiled using data from the Florida Association of Realtors.

"The single-family house inventory is shrinking at a faster pace than the condo and townhouse market," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures®. "Condo and townhouses now represent about 61 percent of the total South Florida inventory. Back in November, condos and townhouses represented 57 percent of the overall residential inventory in South Florida."

On a county-by-county basis, Broward has the fewest number of single-family houses available for resale with 10,179 properties, or 32 percent of the total South Florida inventory of 32,125.

Miami-Dade and Palm Beach are in a tie in percentage terms with each accounting for 34 percent of the remaining single-family house inventory. Palm Beach, with a population of about 1.1 million, has 10,888 houses for sale compared to 11,058 houses on the resale market in Miami-Dade, with a population of 2.5 million, according to the Condo Vultures® report.

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ , Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ , and First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Saturday, May 30, 2009

$14 Million In South Beach Foreclosures Filed In May

Nearly three-dozen residences in Miami Beach's South Beach neighborhood slipped into foreclosure in May for nonpayment on nearly $14.3 million in combined mortgage financing, according to the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™.

The most expensive foreclosure action filed in May was against a waterfront single-family house with an outstanding loan amount of $4.3 million. A few doors down a bank filed to foreclose on a $1.1 million loan, which ranks as the third highest foreclosure action filed in May in South Beach.

A luxury condo with an outstanding loan of $1.6 million in Miami Beach's South of Fifth neighborhood ranked as the second highest foreclosure action filed in May, according to the Foreclosure Database™.

"Single-family houses accounted for two of the 34 foreclosure actions filed in South Beach in May," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. "For the year, condos have accounted for more than 90 percent of the 176 foreclosure actions filed in South Beach through the end of May."

Nearly half of the May foreclosures in South Beach are located on four streets: West Avenue (7 filings); Collins Avenue (4 filings); Ocean Drive (2 filings), Lincoln Road (2 filings). The remainder of the foreclosure actions are spread throughout the barrier island neighborhood.

Overall, lenders moved to foreclose 81 properties in Miami Beach in May, up from efforts to repossess 112 properties in April. For the year, lenders have filed 463 actions against Miami Beach properties, according to the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

First-Time Home Buyers Target Foreclosures

BY ERIK BOJNANSKY
Special Correspondent
CondoVultures.com

Armed with an $8,000 federal tax credit and knowledge of current events, first time home buyers are seeking bargains in the form of foreclosed properties.

However, home buyers should be careful when considering buying a foreclosed property.

"Just because it is [banked owned] doesn't mean it is the best deal for them [potential buyers]," said Brian Paul, CEO of the Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches.

Kerry Smith, project editor for the Florida Association of Realtors, said first-time home buyers are asking Realtors about REO (real estate owned, bank owned) properties.

"Everyone has read all the media out there," he said. "A lot of shoppers want a bargain because that is what they read."

Danielle Clermont, communications director for the Realtor® Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale, said so many first-time home buyers are inquiring about REOs that her organization is now offering Realtors classes about foreclosed and short-sold properties.

"Two years ago we did not have [the classes]," Clermont said. But recently the "demand in the courses have increased and participation in the courses have [also increased]."

There is plenty of foreclosed inventory in South Florida, according to data from the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™. Since January 2007, when the real estate market declined rapidly, foreclosure actions have been initiated on 147,000 properties. Condo Vultures® also predicts that 27,000 properties will likely be foreclosed on by the end of 2009.

Once obtained, banks will be looking to unload homes as quickly as possible.

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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Contracts Surge 3.5% In South Florida

South Florida residential pending resales spiked 3.5 percent in the last week to 15,191 existing contracts in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Pending sales in Broward County, where Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood Beach, and Pompano Beach are located, surged 4.3 percent to 5,820 deals on a week-over-week basis ending May 18, according to the report produced using Florida Association of Realtors data.

Pending sales in Palm Beach County, where West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton are located, increased by 3.7 percent in the same period to 2,691 contracts. Pending sales in Miami-Dade County, where Miami Beach, Coral Gables, and Sunny Isles Beach are located, increased 2.7 percent to 6,680 contracts, according to Condo Vultures®.

"Buyers and sellers are entering into contracts in South Florida at a stepped up pace," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate services company Condo Vultures®. "As properties go under contract, the total available residential resale inventory has consistently decreased. In the last six months, inventory has fallen by more than 20 percent."

South Florida currently has 85,705 condo units, townhouses, and single-family houses available for resale in the tri-county area. The week of Thanksgiving, there were 107,527 residential properties on the market for resale, meaning that available inventory has fallen by 21,822 properties, according to the report.

Broward County has experienced the deepest drop in inventory in the last six months, falling 24.1 percent to 28,039 resale properties. Miami-Dade County has experienced a 21.1 percent drop in inventory to 32,348 properties. Palm Beach County's inventory has dropped by 14.5 percent to 25,318 resale properties.

Condominium units and townhouses represent about 60 percent of the total inventory while single-family houses account for the remaining 40 percent. Back in November, condo units and townhouses represented 57 percent of the inventory, and single-family houses account for 43 percent of the South Florida total, according to the report.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Sunday, May 3, 2009

US Bank Failure Losses Top $5 Billion In 2009

Federal regulators shut three more institutions on May 1, increasing the total estimated losses related to failed bank in 2009 to more than $5 billion, according to a report by Condo Vultures® LLC.

In 2008, regulators shut 25 institutions that resulted in total losses of between $10.4 billion and $14.9 billion, according to the report based on data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

"Our research indicates that taxpayers have lost an estimated $5.3 billion this year," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy Condo Vultures®. "This means that taxpayers are losing about $1.33 billion per month or $11 million per day due to bank failures. Based on this pace, it is not difficult to envision losses in 2009 at least equaling those of 2008, which would put us in a range of $30 billion of bank failures in two years."

In the most recent seizures, regulators closed Silverton Bank in Georgia with assets of $4.1 billion, America West Bank in Utah with assets of $299.4 million, and Citizens Community Bank in New Jersey with assets of $45.1 million.

The trio of bank failures increases the total number of failed institutions to 32 in the first four months of 2009, according to Condo Vultures®.

In the first quarter of 2009, regulators shut 21 institutions with combined assets of $9.6 billion and deposits of $7.9 billion.

The estimated losses incurred with the first quarter closures are at least $2.3 billion, according to the report.

In the first month of the second quarter, regulators have already closed 11 institutions with combined assets of $9.7 billion and deposits of $7.6 billion.

Losses associated with these bank failures are estimated at $3 billion, according to the report.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Friday, April 10, 2009

Miami Foreclosure Filings Jump 34% In Q1 2009

South Florida foreclosure actions jumped by 33 percent in the first quarter to 23,672 filings in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, according to a new report from the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™.

An average of 263 Lis Pendens and/or Notices of Default were filed each day in South Florida in the first three months of this year. In first quarter of 2008, there were 17,820 foreclosure actions filed in the region for an average of 198 filings per day, according to the Foreclosure Database™.

"The number of foreclosure filings continues to increase for the third year in a row," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC. "At this pace, South Florida will have some 96,000 foreclosure actions in 2009 compared to 76,000 in 2008 and 33,000 in 2007."

The Foreclosure Database™ is realtime, searchable online software developed by Condo Vultures® that compiles every one of the 133,700-plus foreclosure actions filed in the circuit courts of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties since January 2007. The Foreclosure Database™ is the first South Florida service that allows users to search all three counties on a realtime basis by more than a dozen categories, including judgment amounts, values, project names, lenders, borrowers, and the attorneys of the lenders.

Broward County, where Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Pompano Beach are located, experienced the greatest number of foreclosure actions in the first quarter of 2009 with 10,290 actions, or 114 per day. That is a 39 percent increase over the 7,393 actions filed in the first quarter of 2008, according to the report.

Miami-Dade County, where Miami, Aventura, and Coral Gables is located, experienced a 34 percent increase in foreclosure actions in the first quarter of this year. In 2009, there have been 7,170 foreclosure actions filed in Miami-Dade compared to 5,370 filings in the county in the first 90 days of 2008, according to the Foreclosure Database™.

Palm Beach County, where Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Delray Beach are located, realized a 23 percent increase in foreclosure filings to 6,212 actions in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 5,057 filings in 2008, according to the report.

Broward accounts for 43 percent of all of the foreclosures filed in the first quarter of 2009, Miami-Dade is second with 30 percent of the actions, and Palm Beach is third with 26 percent of the filings, according to the report.

Foreclosure of the Week:

JP Morgan Chase Bank has filed a foreclose action to collect on a $3.4 million mortgage secured by a condominium unit in the wealthy enclave of Fisher Island.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

South Florida Inventory Falls 1.8% To 92,000 Homes

The number of single-family houses, condominium units, and townhouses on the market in South Florida decreased by 1.8 percent on a week-over-week basis ending April 6, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties have a combined 92,792 resale residential properties on the market compared to 94,526 a week earlier ending March 30. A fortnight ago on March 23, there were 95,409 residential properties on the market, according to the report.

As the number of available properties has consistently fallen every week, the number of pending sales is strengthening.

There were 13,298 pending sales in South Florida in the process of closing on April 6, up 2.4 percent from the 12,985 potential deals on March 30. On March 23, the number of South Florida pending sales totaled 12,576 properties, according to the report.

"The appetite of all-cash buyers willing to purchase deeply discounted properties is not weakening," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures®. "If anything, the appetite of buyers is growing stronger."

Every Monday since the Nov. 24, 2008, Condo Vultures® has tapped into the Florida Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service to obtain a glimpse of the South Florida real estate market.

The basis of the original report is 107,527 active available residential resales and 9,302 pending sales on the Multiple Listing Service.

In the five months since the report has been produced on a weekly basis, the number of active residential resales has dropped by 13.7 percent, or 14,735 properties, in South Florida. Pending sales have increased by 43 percent, or 3,996 properties.

Single-family houses are experiencing the biggest drop in inventory, falling 17.8 percent since November to 38,323 properties from 46,599 in November. Pending sales on single-family houses during that same period have increased by 41.3 percent to 6,879 on April 6 compared to 4,868 houses in November, according to the report.

Available condo and townhouse inventory has decreased at a slower pace of 10.6 percent to 54,469 units on April 6 compared to 60,928 units in November. Pending sales of South Florida condos and townhouses have increased by 44.8 percent to 6,419 possible transactions on April 6 compared to 4,434 contracts on Nov. 24, according to the report.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ is now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Friday, April 3, 2009

Foreclosure Database™ Launches With 132,000 Filings

More than 132,000 South Florida foreclosure filings and counting are now available in a realtime, searchable database created by the real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

The Foreclosure Database™ provides the most up-to-date list of Lis Pendens and/or Notices of Default initiated in the volatile real estate markets of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

With practically every one of the 227 foreclosure actions filed each business day in South Florida since 2007, the Foreclosure Database™ provides users with critical context and current information on projects, lenders, and borrowers that is essential in the due diligence process.

“The value of the Foreclosure Database™ comes in the ability to quickly pull up customized lists of addresses, owners, lenders, loan amounts, judgment amounts, and more that is searchable by county,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based advisory firm Condo Vultures®. “Every business day we upload the latest foreclosures filings to ensure that our clients have the most updated information possible.”

With about 5,000 foreclosure actions being filed every month in South Florida, many investors, appraisers, and lenders find it difficult to stay informed about the state of the market in a particular building, let alone a neighborhood or even a city.

The Foreclosure Database™ is proprietary software that was created to eliminate that anxiety by assisting decision makers to obtain a better understanding of the rapidly changing South Florida market.

Condo Vultures® attempts to accomplish this objective by providing users of the Foreclosure Database™ with the names of the buildings, the addresses, loan amounts, property values, the borrowers, the lenders, filing dates, and the plaintiff attorneys.

Founded in 2006, Condo Vultures® is the information company that has been releasing quarterly rankings of the top 10 South Florida condominium and townhouse projects with the highest number of foreclosures since 2007.

For the first-time ever, Condo Vultures® is making this valuable resource available to subscribers on a monthly basis with no contract for 30 days of unlimited access to the foreclosures being filed from Miami Beach north to West Palm Beach.

“Our mantra from the inception has been market intelligence,” said Zalewski, a former financial journalist who has lived in South Florida since October 1993. “We believe that accurate, current information always has an empowering effect on buyers, sellers, lenders, and appraisers in a real estate transaction. In today’s volatile South Florida market, accurate information more than ever is essential to buyers who are trying to capitalize on the real estate correction.”

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter's blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database . Our new book Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust is now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database.

Copyright © 2009 Condo Vultures® LLC, All Rights Reserved.