RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its June 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Reportâ¢, which shows foreclosure filings â default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions â were reported on 252,363 U.S. properties during the month, a 3 percent decrease from the previous month but still a 53 percent increase from June 2007. The report also shows one in every 501 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month.
âJune was the second straight month with more than a quarter million properties nationwide receiving foreclosure filings,â said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. âForeclosure activity slipped 3 percent lower from the previous month, but the year-over-year increase of more than 50 percent indicates we have not yet reached the top of this foreclosure cycle. Bank repossessions, or REOs, continue to increase at a much faster pace than default notices or auction notices. REOs in June were up 171 percent from a year ago, while default notices were up 38 percent and auction notices were up 22 percent over the same time period.â
The housing bill, which earmarks $300 billion to backstop mortgages after lenders agree to lower mortgage payments, is "a step in the right direction" but "doesn't do enough," he says, predicting the government will ultimately need to spend more than $1 trillion.
Roubini's main concern stems from a view that the "housing recession is not bottoming by any standards," in contrast to hopeful comments from Paulson on Fox News and Barron's last weekend.
The economist believes U.S. home prices will ultimately fall 30% from their peak -- vs. 18% to date according to the S&P Case-Shiller Index -- "before bottoming out some point in 2010."
In the interim, the negative wealth effect of declining home values and increase in "underwater" mortgages will lead to more Americans walking away from their homes. Such "jingle mail" threatens to ultimately cost $1 trillion in credit losses, wiping out 75% of the capital of U.S. financial institutions, Roubini warns.
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This will produce roving bands of homeless, hungry US citizens who will be knocking on our doors looking for a hand-out.Quote from TraderZones:
But people need to eat. They need some place to live. They need to wear clothes.
Quote from ByLoSellHi:
Let me tell you something. You think you know that things will get bad with the banks, right?
I mean, there's been doom & gloom all over the news, and predictions of bank failures by the hundreds, right?
You are all prepared, right? Nothing will shock you?
Things are 100x worse than what anyone has publicly been saying.
How do I know this? It's not insider information. It's not a national secret. It's not privileged, nor confidential information.
I have two very friends that work for two different law firms, and they have been taken out of their regular practice areas and reassigned to the foreclosures department.
Most of you have ZERO clue as to how many PROPERTIES (not just residential homes, but commercial, retail, office and industrial) are being foreclosed upon.
They are both telling me that their firms can't hire paralegals or attorneys fast enough to handle the onslaught, and that the senior most partners at their firms view this as unprecedented.
It's so bad, and these people are anything but lazy, that they are considering quitting their jobs. They both refer to it as a black hole. They have told me stories of people just quitting on the spot, in the middle of the day, as a frequent occurrence.
If you have access to any database that lists foreclosed properties, you would be stunned at the broad array of properties - everything from single lots to factories to shopping malls - that are being foreclosed on right now.
Everything I'm telling you is public record. Once banks file foreclosure proceedings, it's all public record.
So, if you have any doubts that we are headed for an absolute crisis, or that properties from the tens of thousands to the hundreds of millions, from New York to Boston to Cleveland to California to the Hamptons to Mercer Island are being foreclosed upon in record numbers - just go check out the public records - whether in your immediate area, or on a national level.
No one can understand the size and scope of this crisis until they actually view the reams and reams of foreclosure listings, and see that no price point, location, category, size or shape is immune.
You will come back to this thread, if you do this, and be able to do nothing but say "wow, you're right."
A tidal wave is about to hit. It's 60 feet high, just off shore, and building in velocity and height at a rapid clip.