Most housing market analysts believe that an improvement in the employment market will help buoy the nation's housing market. Among local analysts, the same belief is reportedly prevalent, with most of them expecting that the more employed people there are; the more people there will be to purchase properties at Philadelphia foreclosure auctions and at non-foreclosure sales.

The recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that there might just be some additional potential buyers at Pennsylvania home auctions as non-farm employment in Philadelphia rose by 9,100 in February 2011 to reach more than 2.6 million compared with January 2011. Compared with February of last year, the increase was around 19,200, representing a jump of 0.7%. Although the increase was less than 1%, the annual rise was actually the largest for the area since April of 2008. However, the rate of increase was still below the 1% jump recorded nationwide.

Home sellers and realtors selling properties at home and condo auctions in the areas of Philadelphia, Wilmington and Camden metro regions are hoping that the rise will result in increased buying activities in the residential market. Meanwhile, for the Greater Philadelphia metro region which covers Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, Bucks and Delaware counties, the job increase between February of this year and February 2010 was around 22,500.

Residential sellers at foreclosed houses at auctions in these counties have welcomed the BLS report which showed that 3,600 jobs were added to the hospitality and leisure industries, while 6,700 more people were employed at the health service and education sectors. Most housing market analysts believe that the jump in employment will precipitate increased selling and buying activities in the residential market in the coming months.

Although distressed properties at house and condo auctions are expected to increase in almost all regions of the U.S. throughout 2011, analysts believe that improvements in the job market will help keep the housing market stable. In Philadelphia, residential market observers and residents are expecting that the additional jobs will make the recovery of the residential property market much faster than initially projected.

House and Condo Auctions Expected to Benefit from Job Increases is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

The number of foreclosed properties at home auctions in Philadelphia, in Pittsburgh and in the rest of the state has not been as high as in most U.S. regions. However, Pittsburgh has had its own economic and housing industry problems, with the city facing budget concerns and pension shortfalls. However, the metro area is getting revitalized by the flood of young people relocating to downtown dwellings.

The young demographic has been some of the most active buyers in foreclosure auctions in Pennsylvania and some of the most avid renters in various parts of the state as their capacity to buy and rent their own homes increases. In downtown Pittsburgh, around 19% of the population is accounted for by people aged between 25 and 29. These people are filling up apartments, condominiums, lofts and other residential properties in the city.

Foreclosure investing tips from local realtors emphasize the impact of this group on the residential property market of the city. It has been estimated that almost 1,300 rental properties and condominiums have been built in the downtown area in the past decade, a number that is projected to increase even further in the coming years.

Realtors are hoping that sales of properties at foreclosure auctions will also benefit from the surge in the number of young people moving into the city as confidence over homeownership improves. According to realtors, most of the young residents who have made downtown Pittsburgh their home are attracted by the culture and the business environment of the place.

Those who offer foreclosure investing tips to would-be developers and landlords in Pittsburgh are betting on further improvements in the downtown's property market. According to them, the city is changing from being known as a steel town to a place where the young enjoy the outdoors and the great opportunities offered by local businesses.

Foreclosure Investing Tips from Realtors: Focus on the Young is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

A recent forum held in Cranberry, participated in by the alliance and other housing market experts, explored various suggestions for solving the for-rent property shortage in the state. According to some forum attendees, although home auctions in Pennsylvania offer a lot of properties that can be used as rental houses, enough supply cannot guarantee that the problem of affordability will be solved.

During the forum, representatives from the alliance have stated that renovating rental houses that are already in existence can help solve the rental housing shortage of the state. According to Housing Alliance officials, there is no need to build new rental homes as the stocks are already available and even home foreclosures auctions have enough supplies that can provide the required rental dwellings needed by most cities of Pennsylvania.

However, the main question that forum attendees tried to address has more to do with offering rental dwellings that low income families and state residents can afford and less about lack of property supplies. Pittsburgh foreclosure auctions, for example, have enough houses that can be converted into rental residences. The question is; can these properties, once converted into rental housing by their buyers, offer a rental rate that low income families can afford?

The suggestion by the alliance to focus on existing apartments and rental dwellings was welcomed by most forum attendees since a lot of apartment buildings in the state were built pre-1950s and it would be reasonable to upgrade them to cut down the shortage instead of building new apartments. Most attendees also stated that the state government should focus most of its efforts on helping landlords renovate their units to provide additional rental dwellings to various cities in Pennsylvania.

Furthermore, supporters of the alliance's recommendation stated that renovation projects will provide the state with a lot of economic activities and will offer significant savings. They also added that major cities are in need of subsidized for-rent homes and further assistance for homeowners who have lost their properties to Pittsburgh foreclosure auctions and other city auctions.

Homes in Pittsburgh Foreclosure Auctions Can Be Used As Rental Units is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

According to information filed against Rauso, the former owner of D&B allegedly took advantage of homeowners who were facing the possibility of losing their homes to Pennsylvania foreclosure auctions by offering services that were supposed to help them retain their properties. Documents filed against Rauso claimed that this was not actually true and that the 46-year-old man actually used homeowners to take money from mortgage lenders.

Allegations against Rauso claimed that he targeted homeowners who were about to lose their properties to a foreclosed home auction and offered them assistance in fighting mortgage lenders, while rebuilding their credit status at the same time. The scheme was allegedly run between 2005 and 2008.

In addition to these claims, he supposedly told homeowners who already lost their properties to Philadelphia home auctions and to foreclosures in other areas of the state that he can help them stay in their homes for more than a year even though their properties have already been auctioned off.

Once homeowners accept the offer, Rauso allegedly asked them to transfer their home titles to his name for a certain amount of fee. He then presented them with a lease document that they would need to sign so that they can be tenants in their own homes but had to pay rent to Rauso himself. He allegedly delayed the process of foreclosure by using various strategies, including filing petitions for federal bankruptcies. While the foreclosure is being held back, he continues to collect rent from the troubled homeowners.

Local authorities have stated that Rauso had spent nine years in prison for a drug-related charge. They revealed that numerous complaints have been filed against him before, but there was never enough evidence so he was never charged. Recently, Rauso's scheme of taking advantage of homeowners facing the possibility of losing their homes to Philadelphia home auctions and to foreclosures in other areas of Pennsylvania has merited enough proof for a charge.

Man Took Advantage of Philadelphia Home Auctions Foreclosure Issue is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

According to data gathered by nonprofit Housing Alliance as it conducts counseling for distressed homeowners, the most common reasons cited by borrowers for their defaults and impending foreclosures were loss of income, reduction of income, major medical expenses and increase in the home loan amount.

The reasons cited by the others were death in the family, business failure, divorce and poor financial management.

York housing counselors said that job loss is the strongest factor for foreclosures in the county, and not adjustable-rate mortgage loans or other exotic mortgage loans or poor financial decision making.

Foreclosure auctions in York are also not concentrated in certain areas, unlike in other counties, where there are foreclosure hotbeds, according to The York Dispatch.

Nevertheless, there are areas where there are more foreclosures, according to data from the Sheriff’s Department. Zip code 899, which covers West York, North York and parts of York, currently has 899 foreclosure filings while zip code 17403, which covers York City and certain surrounding areas, has 667 filings. Zip code 17331, which covers Hanover, has 345 filings.

Across the county, the number of houses ready for sheriff sale rose to 1,273 units in 2008, an increase of 80.3 percent from 706 units in 2005. Using the 2005 to 2008 pace would bring a total of 1,412 foreclosed units in 2009.

Over the last 4 years, the number of houses sold at sheriff sales rose to 542 units in 2008, an increase of 55.3 percent from 349 units in 2005. Using the 2005 to 2008 pace would bring total sheriff sales to 696 units in 2009.

Another concern of York officials and residents is the proposal by Harley-Davidson, one of the York’s biggest employers, to relocate work from its Springettsbury factory to another plant in another state. If this happens, according to York real estate executive Patricia Carey, around 2,000 residents would lose their jobs and many of them would lose their homes too.

Last year, large numbers of York County residents applied for state emergency loans to keep up with their monthly loan payments. York is seventh in a ranking of 67 Pennsylvania counties based on the number of applications filed for emergency loans under the Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

Reasons behind Growing York City Repo Homes Lists is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

According to the Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Wanda Davis, the number of evictions already carried out increased from 47 units in the first month of the year to 107 units in April.

Davis also added that she is concerned about the foreclosure sales and the evictions because the Sheriff’s Office has already carried out 49 evictions during the first weeks of June alone.

Davis said she has no data on renters evicted from properties sold at foreclosed home auctions, but she has observed that a rising number of tenants are being evicted. She added that evictions of renters are being carried out by the Municipal Landlord Tenant Court, and not the Sheriff’s Office.

According to Ian Phillips, a top executive of the national grassroots organization Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now which is helping Philadelphia in its foreclosure prevention program, the increase in evictions could have resulted from foreclosure actions filed before the implementation of the ACORN-backed program.

Also, some foreclosure filings moved on to foreclosed home auctions after the expiration of foreclosure moratoriums that were launched as the Obama administration was working out the details of its Making Home Affordable program.

The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office put in place its own moratorium on foreclosure auctions from April to October in 2008 while the city was working out and putting in place its foreclosure prevention program together with ACORN.

The ACORN-backed program focuses on court-supervised mandatory mediation between the mortgage lender and the borrower and makes use of the services of HUD-certified housing counselors and volunteers who go around the community to reach out to distressed homeowners.

The Sheriff’s Office usually conducts its foreclosed home auctions 5 to 6 months following the Courtroom of Common Pleas’ approval of the foreclosure suit filed against the defaulting borrower.

ACORN executive Phillips explained that evictions are typically carried out 2 to 3 months after properties are sold at the sheriff’s foreclosed home auctions.

Notwithstanding the evictions, Phillips argued that the number of evictions is small compared to the 200 to 300 mediation conferences being conducted every week at the city’s Court of Common Pleas, resulting in hundreds of homes saved from foreclosed home auctions.

Evictions Follow Philadelphia Foreclosed Home Auctions is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.

Though this sounds tough already, Pennsylvania is actually still doing better than the other states. Pennsylvania is slightly dodged the full blow of job losses and real estate downfall.

With a 0.68 percent foreclosure rate, Pennsylvania ranked 33 among the 50 states only a third of the national average.

The highest foreclosure rates at above 1 percent were seen in Philadelphia and the Allegheny counties. While York counties, Washington, Delaware and Berks’ foreclosure rates were playing just below 1 percent.

If that is not enough already, home sales are very slow that mortgages cost more than the value of the actual home. January-November records show that home sales fell by 24 percent and median prices are down by 1.5 percent from 2007.

Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency is now doing extra efforts to aid the foreclosure troubled saving their homes. But impending job losses may just worsen repossession scenario. Last year, a $10 million federal aid wished to bring down payments of refinanced mortgages, provide some counseling and other services. Among the 150 foreclosure troubled whose mortgages were undertaken by the agency, only 2 are 30 days delayed.

We are all hoping for the best this 2009. But with the increasing cases of unemployment, continuing economic depression and 14,000 adjustable-rate loans for Pennsylvanian homes next year, chances of recovery is very slim.

Since October, 30,000 homeowners are recorded to be foreclosure-risked because adjustable- rate mortgages are about to increase their interest rates this year.

Looks like 2009 will have more homes repossessed, increasing house supply on the market, thereby repeating the downward spiral.

Pennsylvania’s Foreclosure Increased Twice Over is a post from Foreclosure-Auction.net - Your online source for foreclosure property auctions.