Foreclosures drop 24% in California

By GottaLaff

A news alert just came into my inbox, and it brought welcome news:

The number of California homes entering foreclosure declined about 24% during the last three months of 2009 amid signs that the worst may be over in hard-hit entry-level markets, according to MDA DataQuick, a San Diego real estate research firm.

However, it's not clear how much of the drop is because of changing market conditions or changing foreclosure policies among lenders and loan servicers, DataQuick said.

More soon at: http://www.latimes.com

1.5 million homes in foreclosure in '09

Very scary numbers.

NEW YORK -- The foreclosure plague is not going away -- it's only getting worse.

A record 1.53 million properties were in the foreclosure process -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- during the first six months of 2009. That was 9% more than the previous six months and 15% more than the same period of 2008, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac.

There were a total of 1.91 million filings resulting in 1 out of every 84 U.S. properties receiving at least filing in the first half of the year. Banks repossessed 386,800 properties.

(snip)

And, in a bad sign for a housing recovery, there was no recorded improvement in June, the last month of the cycle. More than 336,000 homes reported foreclosure filings, the fourth straight 300,000-plus month. Filings were up 33% over last June and nearly 5% compared with May.

Cartoon of the Day

Even Santelli should be able to understand this. via

Foreclosures Are a Regional, Not a National Problem--Half Are in Four States

Fascinating analysis of the foreclosure rates, so go check it out. Interesting how it's concentrated.

A very interesting Web posting from stateline.org shows the foreclosure rates in each state from December 2007 to January 2009.

What's fascinating, when you look at the numbers, is how geographically concentrated the foreclosures are in a few states. Only nine states have foreclosure rates (number of foreclosures per 5,000 housing units) above the national average. Four states have massive high foreclosure rates—the four Sand States, as some call them:

Nevada	66
California	29
Arizona	27
Florida	23

All but California have had massive population growth in the 1990s and the 2000s; all have large Hispanic populations; all have been the site of much housing speculation.

Living On 'Foreclosure Ave.'

I'd like to see that dickwad Santelli say that crap directly to these people.

Shaun Donovan, Obama's pick for HUD Secretary, was prescient

By GottaLaff

This is the kind of foresight we should have heeded years ago:

Politico's Glenn Thrush reports that, in a conversation with Donovan in 2004, the future HUD Secretary foresaw the subprime crisis. "Donovan brushed aside my questions about the city's initiatives and began talking at length about the coming 'flood' of foreclosures he anticipated among highly leveraged apartment buildings purchased by recent immigrants -- and a looming subprime crisis for one- and two-family homeowners in up-and-coming neighborhoods in southeast Queens and central Brooklyn."

Thom Hartmann called it, too. He should be Secretary of Brilliant.

New Yorker cover spotlights McCain's houses

By GottaLaff

This New Yorker cover also highlights the foreclosure crisis. It's about time.