Archive for the 'Ohio Articles' Category

The prices of Dayton foreclosure auctions homes and properties in general in Ohio have suffered due to the high number of vacant and abandoned dwellings and buildings. According to local authorities, around 130,000 mobile dwellings, apartments and regular houses have gone vacant in the state in the past decade.

This, according to local housing market analysts, has caused properties being sold at home auctions in Ohio to suffer from significant price declines. To make matters worse, housing authorities are reporting that abandoned or unkempt properties are now as common in small cities as it is in metro areas.

As the number of properties offered at auctions of foreclosed homes in the state increases, empty and derelict-looking properties have also risen in number. According to local statistics, vacant houses have been growing in number in Ohio by an average of 5% each year since 2000. This figure is about 25% higher than the country-wide average.

Although the number of empty and abandoned properties accumulated in the past few years have slowed down in big cities and Dayton foreclosure auctions have less of these types of properties on offer, the total number is not diminishing since the trend is just moving to smaller counties and towns. Just like in big cities, smaller areas are now faced with the problem of declining property values due to these abandoned premises. They also force local authorities to shell out tax money to finance the maintenance or demolition of such properties.

Local figures showed that between 2000 and 2010, vacant houses in places like Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo and Columbus have grown by around 6.1% every year. The figure is significantly higher than the country-wide growth average of 5.4%. Market analysts are predicting that the growth will continue for the next five years, with a yearly increase of at least three percent. They also predicted the smaller towns and cities to be at par with bigger metros in terms of vacant property numbers.

One local area that is starting to record big numbers of abandoned premises is Sandusky County, with over 2,000 vacant dwellings in 2010. Analysts have stated that this trend, just like the increase in the number of properties under Dayton foreclosure auctions, is mainly due to high unemployment rates in the whole state.

Homes auctions in Toledo surged in April and bucked the statewide trend of declining foreclosure activity.

In Toledo and in other parts of Lucas County, foreclosure actions increased to 854 postings, a jump of 1.6 percent from March and an increase of 1.8 percent from April 2009.

In contrast, Ohio home auctions slowed down in April. Both the number of foreclosure filings and repossessed units decreased during the month. Total foreclosure actions dropped by 7.1 percent from 12,849 in March to 11,936 in April while the number of units repossessed or purchased through house foreclosure auctions fell by almost 3 percent from 3,864 in March to 3,749 in April.

Compared to other counties in Ohio, Lucas County was fourth in total foreclosure postings. It was Cuyahoga which posted the biggest number, followed by Franklin and Hamilton. Lucas, however, was second in foreclosure rate, with one foreclosure action for every 239 homes. Marion posted the highest rate with one filing for every 216 homes.

Despite the surge in homes auctions in Toledo in April, sales prices during the month rose compared to the previous month because of the spike in number of buyers. The expiring tax credits and the traditional spring buying season contributed largely to the spike, according to local realtors.

The average sales price for homes in Lucas County in April was $102,577, a sharp jump of nearly 15 percent from the March average price, based on sales data from the Toledo Board of Realtors. In the northwest part of Ohio, the average sales price was $106,863, an increase of 8.5 percent from the average price in March.

In Toledo, the price median increased by 13 percent, and in 28 other Ohio cities, the median price rose by more than 10 percent. Total home sales in Toledo and in other parts of Lucas County and northwest Ohio all increased from their total sales in April last year.

On the whole, homes auctions in Toledo surged in April, but the pace of increase slowed down, indicating some signs of recovery in the metro area.

Search foreclosed home auctions in Ohio cities:

• Foreclosed home auctions in Cleveland
• Foreclosed home auctions in Columbus
• Foreclosed home auctions in Cincinnati
• Foreclosed home auctions in Euclid
• Foreclosed home auctions in Akron

Home foreclosure auctions in Summit County, Ohio bucked the statewide trend in 2009 when the number of homes sold through public auctions in the county plunged to its lowest level in seven years.

The county auctioned off only 1,317 housing units in 2009, a big decline from the 2,919 units sold off in 2008. The total value of homes sold last year was $92.3 million, a substantial drop from the $198 million in auction sales in 2008.

The drop in foreclosure sales last year is good news to most people, but housing analysts warn that the foreclosure sales decline is not yet a strong sign of market recovery. According to Mark Seifert, head of the Cleveland organization called Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People, the sharp drop in foreclosures was largely caused by the rising number of mortgage lenders not immediately pursuing sheriff’s auctions after getting court approvals because of the extremely low level of home prices.

Thomas Teodosio, Common Pleas Judge of Summit County, also said that many banks have been withdrawing distressed properties from scheduled home foreclosure auctions because they do not want to burden themselves with real estate taxes and maintenance costs in case the properties are not sold off. Teodosio, however, reiterated that he only approves withdrawals if the reasons are legitimate.

There are also other major reasons for the decline in foreclosures, according to analysts. These include foreclosure moratoriums, personal bankruptcies, short sale initiatives, court-ordered mediation and loan modification under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program.

County officials also reported that they conducted more auctions in 2008 than in 2009. Almost 5,150 foreclosed homes were scheduled for public auction in 2008, far above the 2,979 foreclosure homes readied for auction in 2009.

Across Ohio, foreclosure postings reached a record 85,773 filings last year, based on data from the Ohio Supreme Court. The biggest increases occurred in Medina, Portage, Lake and Geauga, where filings shot up by 10 to 15 percent.

While foreclosure activity slowed in the counties of Cuyahoga and Summit, they posted the two highest numbers in foreclosure filings in 2009, which are 13,858 and 4,113 filings, respectively.

Akron, the county seat of Summit County, has been among the most foreclosure-clobbered counties in the nation. Over the past five years, around 20,000 housing units in the county have been hit with foreclosure filings, and out of these distressed properties, over 10,600 homes have been sold off at home foreclosure auctions.

Carrington Mortgage Services, one of the largest subprime loan servicers in the country, has been sued by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray for its failure to carry out its agreement to help troubled customers prevent their houses from becoming repo homes.

The Federal Housing Agency released a report which concluded that Ohio’s problems of house repo increase and decline in housing values are rooted in the economic crisis and easy credit. The report debunked the myth that Ohio’s problems were caused by a housing boom.