Cautious Optimism Prevalent Among Market Analysts

Despite the dip in foreclosure-related deals though, Jay Butler, realty studies director at ASU, has warned that levels of foreclosures are still too high in the area, although the decline could be the start of something positive happening in the market. For the month of April, foreclosures dropped to 36% of all transactions in Phoenix's housing market, lower by 2% compared with March 2011, when the figure was at 38%. In the first two months of 2011, 43% of resale deals in the region were accounted for by foreclosed properties.

Local housing analysts were mostly encouraged by the second consecutive month of decline, but they claimed that foreclosure filings and foreclosed property transactions are likely to rise again in the succeeding months unless the region's job market and the local economy post some highly positive results. For April, at least, the local residential market enjoyed a lull as foreclosure activities also decline during the month.

Fewer Filings for April

Aside from fewer foreclosure sales transactions, Phoenix also enjoyed an April wherein foreclosure-related activities were fewer than the previous month. A total of 3,745 foreclosure filings were recorded in the metro area during the month, lower than the 4,145 total posted in March of this year.

However, compared with April 2010, the recent total was still higher, with filings for April 2010 reaching a total of 3,490. Analysts are unlikely to get a clear picture of where the housing industry is going if current figures are to be used as basis. However, statistics will provide a more accurate picture once the fourth quarter comes along.

Prices Expected to Improve

Although most industry analysts remain uncertain on what path the Phoenix housing market will take, they did provide some positive expectations. The median selling price of houses in the area is projected to improve in the coming months as the buying season hits its peak. As of April 2011, the median price of housing resales in Phoenix stood at $125,000, which was lower than the $144,000 median recorded in April 2010. However, it was unchanged from March of this year.

Foreclosure Activities Continue to Slide in Phoenix is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

With the number of homes in Tucson foreclosure auction and distressed properties in most parts of Arizona still increasing, prices in the region also continue to decline. The impact of distressed properties on residential prices was mostly seen in the Phoenix market, with the metro area recording the highest yearly decline up to the February 2011 period. For the 12 months leading to February of this year, Phoenix posted a decrease of 8.4% in prices, the highest among the 20 cities tracked by the price index.

However, the price drop in the metropolitan region in February compared with January was only 0.7%, with realtors stating that the minimal decline might be due to the lower number of properties entering foreclosure auctions in Arizona in February. However, they also claimed that the drop in foreclosure filings in the region was not due to the recovery of the market but has more to do with delayed actions on the part of lenders.

Meanwhile, foreclosures and bankruptcy government auctions continue to depress housing prices among the 20 cities covered by the S&P report, with combined rates dropping by 3.3% in February compared with one year ago. When compared with the previous month, prices in the 20 metros declined by only 1.1%. The continuous drop in housing prices in these key markets is being seen by analysts as a sign that the housing industry is still in a slump.

As properties in home foreclosure sales auction remain elevated, prices in 19 of the 20 cities continue to perform poorly, with Washington D.C. the only region recording a year-over-year price gain. Housing prices in the D.C. area jumped by 2.7% in February 2011 compared with February 2010. Meanwhile, Detroit had the distinction of being the only city that recorded an increase in prices in February compared with the previous month, with rates climbing by 1% in the metro area.

Although real estate analysts expect sales at bank foreclosure auctions and bankruptcy government auctions to improve in the coming months, they do not expect prices to follow sales trends. According to them, prices will likely remain depressed in most areas of the U.S. for the rest of the year.

Foreclosures and Bankruptcy Government Auctions Depressing Prices is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

Experts revealed that the huge problem of residential vacancy in the region was caused by overbuilding during the real estate boom and the subsequent housing market crisis that saw thousands of distressed properties being offered at Phoenix foreclosure auctions, with more than half of them remaining unsold. The problem is further aggravated by the decline in the region's population as people move away from empty neighborhoods and communities dotted with dilapidated residences.

Housing analysts stated that the huge supply of abandoned and vacant dwellings in the metro area is likely to expand further in the coming months as more foreclosed houses fail to sell at Arizona foreclosure auctions. They stated that these empty houses are driving the entire home market down and are serving as dead weight for the state's economy. In addition, as supplies of houses continue to outnumber people who can live in them, prices of real estate also continue to plummet.

Industry analysts have stated that prices of houses in Phoenix and in the rest of Arizona will only recover if empty dwellings in listings of foreclosure auctions are sold to occupant buyers. Either that or have them converted into rental homes to be occupied by renters or have them demolished. As of the first week of March 2011, census data showed that residential vacancy rate in Arizona stood at over 15%.

Census reports also revealed that the highest rates of vacancies can often be found in the Phoenix region, particularly in newer suburban areas. One example is Buckeye which has a vacancy rate of nearly 21%. In the central Phoenix area, around 140,000 condominiums and houses are reportedly sitting empty. Despite the low prices of these properties, a lot of buyers still do not want to make purchases in the region, experts have revealed.

According to them, properties in listings of foreclosure auctions are being sold at heavily discounted rates in Phoenix, but the market still failed to attract buyers. They stated that most people, no matter how low a home's price is, would not like to stay in a house surrounded by empty and abandoned neighboring dwellings.

Hundreds of Homes in Listings of Foreclosure Auctions Remain Unsold is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

Foreclosure auctions in Phoenix have generated a lot of buzz in the past few months among regular homebuyers and real estate investors. This resulted in the metro area having a lower supply of distressed dwellings compared with other U.S. metro regions that are similar to Phoenix's size. The lower level of inventory has also helped offset the negative impact of underwater mortgages in the region.

The supply of distressed houses in Phoenix, including those already offered at home auctions in Arizona, has been estimated to be around 13.6 months. A nationwide ranking of metro areas with the highest inventories of distressed homes showed that only five U.S. metropolitan areas are doing better than Phoenix. However, the underwater mortgage percentage of the metro region still went beyond the 50% mark.

Aside from repossessed properties and tax deed sales, the city is said to be looking at an almost 55% underwater loan burden. This means that more than half of the metro area's homeowners are paying mortgages at a cost higher than the worth of their homes. Another report actually pegged the metro area's underwater loan percentage at 70%. However, both claims have been disputed by local housing experts who argued that the numbers were inaccurate.

Despite conflicting takes on the status of Phoenix's underwater mortgages, majority of analysts agree that the list of foreclosure auctions in the city is far better than other metropolitan regions in the U.S., particularly in comparison with Las Vegas, which has been ranked number one in terms of underwater loans. The fact that the distressed property inventory of the area has gone below most regions' supplies is also considered good news for the city's housing market.

Although bank foreclosures and foreclosed tax deed sales are expected to rise in the whole country in 2011, most local analysts believe that Phoenix's residential property market will continue to get better, albeit at a slower pace than other metro regions.

Buyer Interest in Foreclosed Homes and Tax Deed Sales Helps Phoenix is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

According to local officials, the subsidies are meant to encourage buyers to purchase properties at the south side which has some of the longest foreclosure auction listings in Tucson. The effort is meant to help reduce the number of foreclosed and vacant homes in that area of the city, officials further added. They also stated that the program has two main goals; assisting homebuyers and unloading foreclosed homes located in the area.

Officials from the Family Housing Resources revealed that the program is enjoying a huge response from buyers, with a lot of potential purchasers applying for a subsidy to purchase foreclosed properties that are often offered at Arizona home auctions. The initiative was launched in November of last year and the local housing agency has reported that before 2010 ended, they were able to secure 11 closings.

And the number kept rising, with potential homebuyers showing interest in foreclosed houses in the focus area, including Freddie Mac foreclosures and bank foreclosed dwellings. January 2011 saw six more purchases under the program, with an additional 17 currently under negotiation. Officials added that they were highly impressed by the response, given the reluctance of most homebuyers to purchase foreclosed residential properties these days.

Although a big number of properties sold at foreclosure auctions can be found in various areas of Pima County, the initiative is focusing on the region bounded by 22nd Street, La Cholla Boulevard, Mission road and Los Reales, with the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base located near the eastern part of the community. The marked area accounts for around 14% of home addresses in the county, officials also revealed.

Housing data for the city showed that around 23% of city foreclosures, including Freddie Mac foreclosures, have occurred in the bounded area. More than 2,000 foreclosure actions were recorded in the community during January 2006-March 2009, local housing market data also showed.

Homebuyers of Freddie Mac Foreclosures at Tucson Can Qualify for Aid is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

When distressed properties in foreclosure auctions in Gilbert and in other foreclosure sales in the region started escalating, those who banked that the boom period will continue lost the most, economists explained. Aside from causing real estate-related investments to tank, the housing industry crash also led to thousands of jobs being lost in the construction and real estate industry. Experts estimate that over 50% of Arizona's construction jobs were lost during the recession.

The crisis also produced thousands of homes being sold at Arizona foreclosure auctions without enough buyers. Middle class homeowners had accumulated loads of debts by this time and with their equity gone to cushion them from the fall, economists added. They stated that the crash of the real estate market that led to job losses eventually led to the fall of the retail trade. Consumers stopped shopping, particularly when almost a tenth of the state's non-farm jobs were already lost.

Economists reported that around 275,000 jobs were lost in the state during the recession. The problem continued until last year, with foreclosed and repossessed home properties reaching almost 50,000 in Phoenix alone. In 2009, foreclosed properties in the metro area totaled 47,992. Prices of existing dwellings also declined to around $119,000 from a high of $267,500 back in September of 2006.

Although the recession officially ended on June 2009, the persistent problems of unemployment and huge supplies of foreclosure auction properties continue to pull the middle class down. Local economists stated that it will take some time before the standard of living of the middle class can be rebuilt. They stated that, although some of them had found new jobs, most of these jobs pay lower than their previous employers.

Arizona economists are predicting that it will take quite some time for the impact of the oversupply of foreclosed and repossessed home properties to wear off. They added that, at least, the middle class has hopefully learned their lesson.

Foreclosed and Repossessed Home Properties Led to Job Losses is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

When it comes to home prices, the huge supplies of foreclosures at house auctions in Arizona seemed to have taken their toll as Phoenix was ranked 97th among all metros in terms of having the worst prices for dwellings. Housing prices declined by 4.4% in the city during the second quarter of 2010.

However, market analysts have stated that most existing residences and even properties sold at foreclosure houses auctions are undervalued in Phoenix. They stated that this was due to an overcorrection. In reality, home values in the city should be at least 4% higher than they are known to be.

Analysts have added that, to get the actual values of regular homes and residences sold at Phoenix home auctions, employment rates, interest rates and average salaries should all be taken into consideration. They further added that, given these factors, the housing market of the metro area seemed to be on its way towards a recovery.

In addition to perceived improvements in home values, analysts have also reported that gross metropolitan product (GMP) for the city, as well as employment records, are up for the second quarter of the current year. GMP, which refers to the value of services and goods produced in an area, rose by 1.2% in Phoenix, according to Mountain Monitor.

This makes Phoenix the fifth ranked metro area out of 100 in terms of GMP performance. Most metros in the U.S. averaged a 0.6% rise in GMP and although Phoenix's record is still one percent less than its peak production performance in the 2007 fourth quarter, there is hope that the production increase will continue on for the remaining quarters.

According to local economists, although the number of foreclosed properties sold at Phoenix home auctions will continue to post high numbers, the housing market is expected to achieve further improvements, particularly with employment rates recording a 1% increase during the second quarter of 2010.

Phoenix Home Auctions Still in Bad Shape, But Production Has Improved is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

One property that was supposed to have been sold at one of the foreclosure auctions in Arizona is now causing problems for the residents of Fort Lowell. The Vista Sierra apartment building owned by the Metropolitan Housing Corp. is currently empty and is said to be a favorite target of vandals.

As the apartment complex has not been disposed along with other buildings and house auctions for sale, residents are complaining that the empty building is causing good neighbors to stay away from the area and is also discouraging businesses to come into the neighborhood.

The building was purchased by Metropolitan from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development as one of the thousands of Tucson house auctions for sale. According to local HUD officials, the department is currently working on securing and boarding up the premises and cleaning the building until the HUD can come up with a decision on how to dispose of it.

Some local businesses have stated that a big number of foreclosed buildings and properties under fixer uppers listings have been left empty in the city while authorities are looking for a way to dispose of these structures. Business owners around the area have asserted that the situation is bad for their business reputations and operations and creates an unsafe neighborhood for families.

With the Vista apartment building, authorities have stated that the process of deciding what will become of it might take until the end of the year. They added that HUD has to first determine repair costs and whether it would be more beneficial to demolish the building.

For now, residents and local businesses have to tolerate the apartment complex and hope that something would be done soon. A number of residents did express optimism, stating that in almost all foreclosure cases, Tucson house auctions for sale are eventually occupied, cleaned and restored by the new owners.

Vacant Tucson House Auctions for Sale Worries Residents is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

There are still a lot of auction foreclosures in Phoenix, as foreclosure activity had a resurgence in June in the metro area. Strategic defaults have been rising in the area as more mortgages become underwater and as the federal mortgage modification program fails to help troubled borrowers.

More than 3,800 Phoenix homes entered foreclosure in June, up by about 19 percent from around 3,200 distressed homes in May, although down by about five percent from over 4,000 filings in June last year. Around 40 percent of all house resales in June were homes that went through public Phoenix foreclosure auctions. Analysts in the area said that foreclosures could continue to increase as late payments and defaults are surging again.

The pace of public foreclosure auctions in Arizona slowed down by double-digits in June, but the number of homes that entered bank listings was still relatively high. A total of 5,894 homes were repossessed by lenders, accounting for 40.9 percent of the 14,424 homes that were hit with filings in June. Filings in Arizona dropped by 10.4 percent from May and by 14.3 percent from June 2009, but Arizona still ranked third in charts of foreclosure rates. The state ranked second in charts of foreclosure rates during the six-month period ended June.

In the second quarter, Arizona ranked second despite posting more than 18 percent of decline in filings from the first quarter and a four-percent decrease from the second quarter of 2009. A total of 45,613 homes received foreclosure filings and 37.9 percent of these or 17,293 homes entered bank listings. A substantial percentage of these were homes that were repossessed through public Phoenix foreclosure auctions.

Plenty of Hot Home Deals in Phoenix Foreclosure Auctions is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

In May, 622 homes in Tucson and in other parts of Pima County were repossessed through public auction and another 903 homes are set to get sold off through foreclosure auction if they are not rescued by their owners.

House auctions for sale will continue to surge in Tucson if the 74,317 underwater homeowners in the area as of the first quarter of this year are not helped by loan modification programs. The more than 74,000 underwater borrowers accounted for 36.4 percent of all mortgaged homes in the area, and the additional 10,648 homeowners nearing negative equity comprised 5.2 percent of the total.

In metro Phoenix, a staggering 550,000 homes or 58 percent of all mortgaged housing units have negative equity, the highest number of underwater mortgages for a metro area in the entire nation.

In April, the average sales price for units that went through Tucson home auctions was $134,967, lower by 35.9 percent than the $210,619 average price for all types of existing homes sold in April and lower by 38.5 percent than $219,487 average price for new homes sold during the month.

The number of units repossessed by lenders through home auctions in Arizona dropped in April, but surged again in May. A total of 5,452 homes became REO in April, down by 20.6 percent from 6,869 in March and lower by 10.8 percent than the 6,112 units repossessed in May.

To help the city recover from its economic troubles, the Charter Change Coalition has asked city officials to consider submitting city charter changes in the November ballot this year to empower the Tucson mayor and other city officials.

The recommendations are designed to make changes in the 1929 city charter that has been limiting the powers of city officials to address city problems, including implementing remedies that could help slow down Tucson home auctions.

Search foreclosure listings auctions in Arizona cities:

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Negative Equity Driving Surge in Tucson Home Auctions is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.