Here is a great article from www.azcentral.com outlining some of the reasons lenders may not be foreclosing.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/2009/09/05/20090905housing-foreclosures0905.html

AZ Foreclosure Notices filed are closing in on about 50,000 units. Actual foreclosures dropped by about 1,000 units from the prior month.

About 1 in 5 homes are currently being sold as “short sales” in Maricopa County.  This means lenders are starting to take that process seriously and bodes well for homeowners.

If you are “upside down” on your mortgage, need help in understanding your options if you are behind on your payments or need to discuss a short sale, please call my office at (602) 291-4362.

Download a Graph of foreclosure filings through July of 2009 by viewing this link.

Here is a monthly snapshot on market and AZ foreclosure activity for Arizona Realtors and buyers:

AZ foreclosure activity continues to be very strong.

Download a graph of sales activity for the last 30 days

Southwest Valley-REO active listings represent 16% of the total listings, and 50% of the sales for the last month.

Peoria and Glendale-REO active listings represent 17% of the total listings, and 54% of the sales for the last month.

Compare to Scottsdale- REO active listing represent 6% of the total listings, 29% of the sales for the last month.

Just a couple of things to note:

1. 94% of sales for the last month are under 400,000.

2. 18% of sales for the last month are approved Short Sales

3. 50% of sales for the last month are REO properties.

The Valley is sitting at a 5 months supply overall. Here is a breakdown by area;

Ahwatukee 6.3 months

Scottsdale 9.2 months

Apache Junction 5.0 months

Camelback Corridor 7.5 months

Cave Creek 6.4 months

Fountain Hills 14.4 months

Goodyear, Litchfield, Avondale, 3.0 months

Luxury Valleywide 34.4  months

Peoria and Glendale 2.9 months

Paradise Valley 19.3 months

To receive a daily list of new foreclosure homes, visit this site!

To receive a daily list of homes by your specific search criteria, visit here!

To learn how to buy a home with $100 Down Payment, visit this site!

For more information, call my office at (602) 291-4362

About This Program:

If you’re looking for a great deal when you buy your new home, you should look at HUD homes.  They have a program that allows you to buy a HUD home with only $100 down.  You will be required to put up some earnest money, but it will be refunded at closing if you get an FHA loan and your offer is accepted.

For homes below $50,000 the deposit is $500 and for homes over $50,000 the deposit is $1,000.  HUD pays up to 3% of your closing costs which usually is enough to cover them.  Normally an FHA loan requires 5% down, but with this special program, you only need to put down $100.   Talk about saving some money!!!

What the heck is a HUD Home?

Also known as HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development was established in 1965 to develop national policies and programs to address housing needs in the U.S. One of HUD’s primary missions is to create a suitable living environment for all Americans by developing and improving the country’s communities and enforcing fair housing laws

HUD helps people by administering a variety of programs that develop and support affordable housing. Specifically, HUD plays a large role in homeownership by making loans available for lower- and moderate-income families through its FHA mortgage insurance program and its HUD Homes program. HUD owns homes (acquired through foreclosure) in many communities throughout the U.S. and offers them for sale within certain guidelines and requirements. HUD also seeks to protect consumers through education, Fair Housing Laws, and housing rehabilitation initiatives.

Now an agency within HUD, the Federal Housing Administration was established in 1934 to advance opportunities for Americans to own homes. By providing private lenders with mortgage insurance, the FHA gives them the security they need to lend to first-time buyers who might not be able to qualify for conventional loans. The FHA has helped more than 26 million Americans buy a home.

The FHA works to make homeownership a possibility for more Americans. With the FHA, you don’t need perfect credit or a high-paying job to qualify for a loan. The FHA also makes loans more accessible by requiring smaller down payments than conventional loans. In fact, a FHA down payment could be as little as a few months rent. And your monthly payments may not be much more than rent.

Lender claims paid by the FHA mortgage insurance program are drawn from the Mutual Mortgage Insurance fund. This fund is made up of premiums paid by FHA-insured loan borrowers. No tax dollars are used to fund the program.

A HUD home is one that had an FHA-insured mortgage which has gone into foreclosure.  HUD pays off the bank and then puts the property up for sale to get some of their money back.  The price is set from a recent AS-IS appraisal, which is the price the house would most likely sell for in today’s market in its current condition.

So how do HUD homes get sold?

The house is sold through an auction process where all the bids are sealed.  To qualify for the $100 down program, the offer must be for the full sale amount and the bid will go to the buyer with the highest offer.

And who gets to buy a HUD Home?

Anyone who qualifies can buy a HUD home.  Initially, bidding is only open to owner occupied buyers; however, if no bid has been made after a period of 10 days, properties are made available to all buyers, including investors.

So how do I buy a HUD home?

Buying a HUD home is a lot different than buying a regular house.  For a conventional purchase, usually you write up an offer, the seller looks at it and then accepts it or makes a counter offer.  As stated before, HUD homes are sold through an auction.  You can bid anything you want, but the home usually goes to the highest bidder and if you want to take advantage of the $100 down program, you must offer full price.

Most importantly, call my office at (602) 291-4362 to discuss your options.

Watch for Part #2 of this blog post in the next few days.

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