The American Dream Built on a Nightmare
Buyers willing to take a chance on the struggling housing market can purchase a repossessed home for an average of 27 percent less than a similar property not facing foreclosure. According to Realty Trac, the company’s senior Vice President Rick Sharga says the majority of foreclosed property buyers are investors with cash or lifelong renters who have been waiting for the right opportunity.
Buyers have a growing list of properties to choose from. Already this year 528 thousand homes have been taken over by lenders. Sharga forecasts more than 1.2 million will be foreclosed on by year’s end. The number is unprecedented. In 2005, before the current financial crisis, the number of bank takeovers was a relatively paltry 100,000 homes. Housing analysts say the flood of home repossessions resulted from inflated prices and lenders who gave mortgages to unqualified borrowers. Once prices stopped rising the house of cards collapsed.
While purchasing a foreclosure might be tempting, some experts warn that the housing industry’s woes are not over. Lenders are artificially delaying the initiation of new foreclosure actions, to manage the inventory of distressed properties on the market. In other words, banks don’t want to flood the market with more repossessed homes and further drive down prices.
read more @http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/07/16/the-amercian-dream-built-on-a-nightmare/
Shawn