Foreclosure Stats Released

Home foreclosures were down in September, according to a report released today but RealtyTrack. But the decrease of 12 percent from August still marked an increase of 21 percent over September 2007, and means that one in every 475 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in September.

According to James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac:

Much of the 12 percent decrease in September can be attributed to changes in state laws that have at least temporarily slowed down the pace at which lenders are moving forward with foreclosures. Most significantly, SB 1137 in California took effect in early September and requires lenders to make contact with borrowers at least 30 days before filing a Notice of Default (NOD). In September we saw California NODs drop 51 percent from the previous month, and that drop had a significant impact on the national numbers given that California accounts for close to one-third of the nation’s foreclosure activity each month. Another example is North Carolina, where legislation was signed into law in August that requires lenders to provide homeowners and the state’s commissioner of banks a 45-day notice prior to filing a Notice of Default. We saw NODs drop 66 percent in North Carolina in September.

On the other hand, initial foreclosure filings in Massachusetts jumped 465 percent from August to September after being much lower than normal in June, July and August. That temporary lull happened after a new law took effect in May requiring lenders to give homeowners a 90-day right to cure notice before initiating foreclosure. But in September, about 90 days after the law took effect, initial foreclosure notices jumped back up close to the level we were seeing earlier in the year.

Read the report here.

Home Prices Drop, Along With Consumer Confidence

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index, released Tuesday, fell to 50.4 this month, the lowest reading since February 1992 and half what it was a year ago. The index dropped more steeply than expected from 58.1 in May. The consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR was for a more modest decline to 56.5 for June.

Patrick Newport, an economist at Global Insight, expects the Case-Shiller index to fall another 20 percent to 30 percent. Prices should halt their descent sometime next year, he said.

"The numbers are going to get worse because inventory levels continue to be at record highs or near record highs," Newport said.

Much of the pricing pressure comes from foreclosures and so-called short sales, in which a lender accepts an offer less than the value of the mortgage. These distressed sales can be discounted by 20 percent to 50 percent, forcing home sellers to slash their listing prices to compete.

An industry group Tuesday said U.S. consumer confidence plummeted more sharply than expected in June to it lowest level in more than 16 years. The Conference Board's reading of consumers' expectations hit an all-time low. (Associated Press)