RIVERSIDE - Sales of foreclosed homes shot up 29 percent in Riverside County last month as a backlog of lender-repossessed properties cleared the market, a real estate tracking firm reported today.
According to Bay Area-based ForeclosureRadar.com's monthly "California Foreclosure Report," 2,316 foreclosure sales were recorded in Riverside County in March. The figure compares to 1,789 sales in February and 1,307 sales a year ago.
Statewide, foreclosure sales jumped 92 percent between February and March, according to ForeclosureRadar.com founder Sean O'Toole.
He attributed the surge to lenders catching up after voluntarily holding off on foreclosure proceedings following the implementation in March 2009 of the federal Home Affordable Modification Program, in which qualifying borrowers' mortgage payments can be reduced under government-brokered agreements with banks.
"Despite efforts to promote foreclosure alternatives like loan modifications and short sales, the simple reality is that there isn't a program Advertisement
Barley and Hops for everyone," O'Toole said. "Unraveling trillions in excess debt will take time, and foreclosure is part of the solution, not the problem."
Los Angeles County recorded the highest volume of foreclosure sales in California last month -- 3,285, a 27 percent increase from February.
Riverside County had the second-highest number, followed by neighboring San Bernardino County, with 1,870 foreclosure sales, according to ForeclosureRadar.com.
In most cases, lenders took back their properties without any competitive bids, but O'Toole said the number of third-party sales at auction crossed the 4,000 mark for the first time in California last month, accounting for about one-fifth of sales.
O'Toole predicted foreclosure sales will continue to rise, noting that the lag time between trustees' notices of default and notices of sale has increased from an average 142 to 188 days, with inventories of foreclosed properties swelling.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment