Foreclosures Rise – And Expected To Increase More In South Florida Market

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Lenders have finally begun to catch up on the backlog of foreclosures they have piled up, after waiting for the Federal Government to give some indication as to the current real estate market (via moratoriums, loan re-modifications, and bail out assistance), it seems to be too little too late.

The market is changing and with the increase of REO’s (Foreclosures) we are now facing a buyer’s market. One in every 78 homes was foreclosed upon in Broward County, FL with similar numbers realized in Palm Beach & Miami – Dade counties.

Foreclosures that were previously put on hold while waiting for judgment from the government have started back up again – at a rapid pace. The Federal Government issued new guidelines on March 4, 2009 in regards to loan re-modification. Under these new guidelines many home owners do not qualify for any assistance at all and are left helpless. To make matters worse, the remaining home owners who do qualify for re-modification assistance do not even live in the property any longer and have decided to walk away, only leaving foreclosure as an option.

Help maybe on the way. According to the Florida Supreme Court, they are in the beginning stages of possibly implementing a state wide mediation program that will require all lenders and banks to work one-on-one with borrowers on their loan before moving ahead with the foreclosure process. This is already being tested in Miami-Dade County.

Test area’s throughout South Florida particularly Miami-Dade are being carefully looked at by government officials both on the State and Federal levels. If South Florida show’s signs that this new program is in fact doing its job we can soon expect it to be implemented throughout the State and soon the Nation.

With counties such as Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade leading the state in foreclosures some signs have showed that this program is in fact working. As mentioned in last week’s blog post, foreclosure filings are begging to show a very slight drop. If this is in direct correlation with the programs being put in place is too hard to tell after just one month. Experts say that if this trend continues for the upcoming months throughout the end of the 2nd quarter of the year, we may level out the upside down market.

Check back with us next week for another blog installment on the latest South Florida Foreclosure trends and market opinions at http://gsigllc.blogspot.com

Posted by: Omar Salam