Bank Foreclosures & Short Sales

By Adam Knolls on September 14, 2009

If the economy is improving, do we really have millions more foreclosures coming? According to the U.S. Treasury, the answer is yes. In written testimony to Congress, Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, Michael Barr said that, regardless of the success of mortgage modification efforts, we should still expect millions more foreclosures.

Mr. Barr’s testimony is certainly not welcome news for those anticipating a significant recovery in the housing market. In fact, it is an indication that significant recovery is still years away.

And there are other factors that confirm the fragile state of both the economy and the housing market. Recent reports have indicated that there are almost 3 million active, interest-only loans with a total value of almost $1 trillion, with loans of about $500 billion set to reset within the next 30 months. Then we have a large group of Option Arm mortgages set to recast during the next 2 years. These loans have a combined value of more than $125 billion.

The rising number of bankruptcies, up 36% in the second quarter over last year, with wealthy families filing at double that rate, creates a “perfect storm” of disastrous consequences for the housing market. With the likely prospect of millions more foreclosures coming, home prices and home sales will remain depressed until the market can achieve stabilization. And achieving stabilization will be a slow and painful process.