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They Were Just Mortgaged To The Hilt And They Just Walk Away From It

A report from the Herald Tribune in Florida. “One of Florida’s premier economic forecasters handed a full banquet room a bouquet of fragrant roses — that being a metaphor for a sweet future for the state. ‘Florida is outperforming the national economy,’ said Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness. ‘The housing market is pretty solid. It’s not a bubble. There’s not easy money today as during the bubble. Prices are back to where they were at the end of the housing bubble, and appreciation is beginning to slow, too.'”

From ABC Action News in Florida. “According to ATTOM Data Solutions, Pasco County foreclosures in April more than doubled (up 112 percent) from the same time last year. Manatee County foreclosures were up 41 percent, Sarasota saw a 19-percent jump.”

“Realtor Greg Armstrong says he is seeing a trend. The foreclosures involve more and more seniors who are losing their homes. ‘I’m seeing more and more where they were just mortgaged to the hilt. They might be deceased. Or one spouse might have passed away. And they just walk away from it. And that’s concerning. I hate to see that,’ Armstrong said.”

The Press Democrat in California. “The incineration of more than 5,600 houses and structures in the North Bay subsequently triggered a spike in home prices during the first half of 2018, peaking at an all-time record $700,000 median sale price last June. Since then, single-family home prices steadily have declined for about nine months.”

“The median home price in the county remained relatively stable, bumping up from $636,000 in March to $645,000 in April. When there are multiple offers for a house, several might exceed the asking price by a few thousand rather than tens of thousands of dollars as was the case during the first half of last year, said Juan Nieto, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent.”

“‘There are still multiple offers right now, but the house has to be priced according to today vs. trying to price it six months ago — buyers are very savvy,’ he said. Overall, many sellers are done waiting for home values to increase further, realizing ‘that prices are not going to go up more, (so) why wait the time to sell is now,’ Nieto said.”

The Westchester Journal News in New York. “Food Network star Sandra Lee is reportedly putting her six-bedroom Colonial on the market for $2.3 million. Lee’s three-acre property in the Chappaqua school district hasn’t appeared in the Multiple Listing Service as of this afternoon. But if it does, it’s entering a market where luxury homes are not selling as well as lower price-range homes.”

“‘It’s a classic Colonial, which I think will appeal to a lot of people, said Matthew Gluck, founder of Nest-Edge Realty in Chappaqua, referring to Lee’s property, which she has been sharing with her longtime partner, Gov. Andrew Cuomo. ‘But how they price it is definitely going to be key. If they are trying to break $2 million, it’s going to be a much tougher sell.'”

“Another Chappaqua real estate agent, Sena Baron, agreed. She said she reduced the price of a five-bedroom Colonial on more than four acres not far from Lee’s property, from $2.25 million to $1.999 million ‘because we really have a very soft market here over $2 million. There are very few buyers who want to spend that in our school district.'”

The Kansas City Business Journal. “Kansas City home values fell from March to April, the first month-over-month decline in four years, according to Zillow. Sarah Mikhitarian, senior economist at Zillow said that increasing home values have outpaced income growth in the past few years, which accounts for the drop in value now. ‘After such rapid value increases, affording a down payment has become increasingly difficult for many prospective buyers,’ she said.”

“‘Month-over-month numbers are volatile, and this small decline could reverse itself before the year is out and before national home values go negative on a year-over-year basis,’ said Skylar Olsen, Zillow’s director of economic research. ‘That said, the likelihood that home values have peaked in several local markets is real.'”

“The report said homes values probably have peaked in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, Miami, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Portland and San Jose. Home values fell in 32 of the 35 largest housing markets in April, the report found.”

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This Post Has 77 Comments

  1. ‘The report said homes values probably have peaked in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, Miami, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Portland and San Jose. Home values fell in 32 of the 35 largest housing markets in April’

    Sounds more like a bubble popped. Shacks are local dammit!

    3. That’s about as diverse a list of places across the U.S. with falling real estate prices as I can recall ever seeing. Do you remember when the markets which had become “a bit frothy” were strictly coastal?

  2. ‘Florida is outperforming the national economy,’ said Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness. ‘The housing market is pretty solid. It’s not a bubble. There’s not easy money today as during the bubble. Prices are back to where they were at the end of the housing bubble, and appreciation is beginning to slow, too’

    This guy is pretty famous for sticking his foot in his mouth, here we go again.

    In the “REIC are a bunch of liars” file, the Herald Tribune had an article on the new foreclosure numbers the other day. They deleted it.

    1. “the Herald Tribune had an article on the new foreclosure numbers the other day. They deleted it.“

      And likely fired whom ever published it. We can’t spoke the herd yet!

      1. This is what I get:

        Page Not Found

        The page you have asked for may no longer be available or may have moved.

        1. Mabye they caught onto you and your RE bubble blog and blacklisted your IP address. Here it is from my view:

          Foreclosure filings rise in Florida

          By Amy Diaz
          Posted May 15, 2019 at 5:29 PM
          Updated May 15, 2019 at 5:29 PM

          While the U.S. has seen a decline in foreclosure activity for 10 consecutive months, Florida has seen a steady year-over-year increase for eight. [GateHouse Florida Archive]▲
          Sarasota County has a 25.6% increase in foreclosure starts, and Manatee a 73.8% increase

          Foreclosure filings are down nationwide — but not in Florida.

          According to the ATTOM Data Solutions U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for April 2019, U.S. foreclosure filings are down 5% from last month and 13% from last year.

          While the U.S. has seen a decline in foreclosure activity for 10 consecutive months, Florida has seen a steady year-over-year increase for eight.

          A press release from ATTOM Data Solutions stated that this increase has been “sustained by a constant annual double-digit increase in foreclosure starts.”

          Foreclosure starts refer to “lis pendens,” a filing by a bank warning of pending foreclosure because of a late payment.

          Foreclosure starts are down 10% nationwide since last year, but up 34% in Florida. Larger Florida cities with populations over 500,000 have seen increases in foreclosure starts as high as 90% in Orlando and 45% in Miami.

          There was a 25.6% increase in foreclosure starts in Sarasota County, going from 39% to 49% in the last year, and a 73.8% increase in Manatee County, from 42% to 73%.

          The report showed that nationwide one in every 2,433 housing units had a foreclosure filing in April of 2019.

          Florida, among the states with the highest foreclosure rates overall, saw almost twice as many with one filing in every 1,415 housing units. In Sarasota County, there was one filing in every 1,953 housing units, and in Manatee County, there was one in every 1,531.

          In April of 2019, there were 240 foreclosure activities in both counties combined, an increase of 29% from the year before and 13% from the month before.

          “The increase in distressed listings is a bit surprising, but to be honest it is not shocking to me,” said managing broker Craig Cerreta of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty in downtown Sarasota.

          “A year ago we were still in a seller’s market; thus homes that might have been borderline upside down were able to sell without going the distressed route,” he said. “But the overall market has shifted to a more balanced market if not slightly toward a buyer’s market over the past 12 to 18 months.”

          Cerreta looked at distressed homes that were newly listed and found an increase of 38% in Sarasota County and 22.5% in Manatee County. Additionally, “both counties saw a reduction in median and average prices for distressed properties both listed and sold.”

          But he says this isn’t indicative of a market crash.

          “To me, it means price appreciation outpaced income growth. Buyers are pushing back a little. They are being far pickier than they were two or three years ago,” he said. “But based on sales (demand), our overall market is still solid. Buyers are still strong, but they are more selective and they are not paying up.”

          “I don’t see the increase in distressed properties as a canary in the coal mine. I see it as a reflection of the bigger shift.”

    3. “There’s not easy money today as during the bubble.”

      LOL!! True, there’s no easy money for most of us, but it sure is out there.

    5. I checked out the current Zestimate for the Bay Area condo we sold back in 2004. It’s current value is supposedly about 5% above where we sold, as of the second bubble peak. The tax assessment history suggests it had dropped by over 70% by 2010, before the onset of Housing Bubble reflation.

      1. “The tax assessment history suggests it had dropped by over 70% by 2010…”

        That’s dramatic given that most of the county’s social commitments must be funded.

  3. ‘She said she reduced the price of a five-bedroom Colonial on more than four acres not far from Lee’s property, from $2.25 million to $1.999 million ‘because we really have a very soft market here over $2 million’

    Jeebus…

  4. ‘It’s not a bubble. There’s not easy money…I’m seeing more and more where they were just mortgaged to the hilt’

    1. Here’s a AZ pre-foreclosure I came across:

      Date Event Price
      11/30/2018 Sold $182,000 +34.8%
      10/5/2018 Listed for sale — —
      6/25/2013 Sold $135,000 -10%
      6/21/2013 Listing removed $149,999 —
      5/17/2013 Pending sale $149,999 +28.8%
      1/25/2011 Sold $116,500 +18.2%
      10/15/2010 Listed for sale — —
      8/19/2010 Sold $98,600 -33.8%
      7/3/2010 Price change $149,000 -32.1%
      4/2/2007 Sold $219,399 -65.1%
      9/1/2006 Sold $629,440

      I’d bet the 2007 sale was a foreclosure too.

    2. If the GSEs are packaging their bad loans and selling them off for pennies on the dollar to hedge funds, doesn’t that just turn GSEs into conduits for transferring, at a significant loss, taxpayer backed assets to private debt speculators? The radio is running an add for 21% annual returns from an “ apartment backed” investment fund. How many real estate based scams can be run at the same time before the only people left are scammers scamming each other?

      2. “…
        doesn’t that just turn GSEs into conduits for transferring, at a significant loss, taxpayer backed assets to private debt speculators?”

        How does one get at the receiving end of this money conduit?

  5. ‘The housing market is pretty solid. It’s not a bubble.

    You can repeat that all you want, Sean, but it doesn’t make it so.

  6. Illinois Governor Wants To Hike Taxes.
    Why do people stay? It cant be the weather or the lack of crime.

    1. It’s government goons with fat paychecks and pensions that know they couldn’t do better anywhere in the real world. Start drug testing and make having a felony cause for firing and it would be a very different story – I know, I’ve seen both sides.

      Housing related, my Lyft driver said he was going to work with a woman who owns a bunch of vacation rentals and also manages another 140 or so! I can’t imagine the competition. He also said he’s put on 90k miles driving for Lyft and Uber in just the last 2 years.

    2. Liberals just do not learn from their mistakes. Conservatives just won the Australian election in a “surprise”. Liberals kept pushing for more global warming measures despite people losing jobs and dealing with soaring electricity bills. I think young people are naturally liberal, I was. But I think the saying that if you are not a liberal when you are young you have no heart but if you are not a conservative when you are old you have no head is true. I cannot be too hard on AOC since she is young but anyone over 35 who shares her views just has not studied history or even current events in the world.

      3. “Ignoring the turmoil that has led his coalition to churn through three prime ministers in six years, he promoted his center-right Liberal Party as a steady hand on the tiller, and made promi$es of cheaper energy and … help for fir$t-time homeowner$.”

        Under his predecessor, Mr. Turnbull, he served as trea$urer, appearing in Parliament at one point with a lump of coal to deliver a me$$age to those demanding stronger action on climate change.

        “Don’t be afraid,” he told lawmakers, without mentioning that the coal had been $hellacked to keep his hands from getting dirty. “Don’t be scared.”

        By Damien Cave |May 18, 2019 | nytimes Australia

  7. “Realtor Greg Armstrong says he is seeing a trend. The foreclosures involve more and more seniors who are losing their homes. ‘I’m seeing more and more where they were just mortgaged to the hilt. They might be deceased. Or one spouse might have passed away. And they just walk away from it. And that’s concerning. I hate to see that,’ Armstrong said.”

    What’s concerning about it, Greg? I’m guessing these walkaways include a high percentage of “I’m not going to give it away!” greedheads who gambled and lost. Boo frickin’ hoo. And now the banks that foolishly lent them imprudent amounts of money can end up holding the bag, and prices can start to drop. Sanity imposing itself on bubble markets is a good thing, Greg. So is watching broke-ass gamblers and greedheads skulking away from their underwater shacks under cover of darkness.

    1. What is interesting to me is that someone would pay $625K and 8 months later list it for 599K. Divorce or job relocation perhaps.

      Everything is relative in the Boston area. In Cambridge (where I live), this house would probably be upwards of 2 million.

  9. ‘more and more seniors who are losing their homes. ‘I’m seeing more and more where they were just mortgaged to the hilt’

    Shouldn’t seniors have their loan paid off? Oh, right, HELOCs and refinancing. I’ve mentioned the risks of this a few times over the years.

      1. And if you misplace your Narrative, don’t worry, real journalists will happily provide you with a corrected, updated Narrative.

    1. The quality of life in San Diego has deteriorated significantly over the last 20 years and you pay a lot more for what’s left of it to boot. The trend line for California is written in permanent ink. But at least it’s a clear picture so anyone can make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to live there.

        1. The trend line for California is written in permanent ink.

          Gavin Newsom’s keeping it all in the family:

          “Newsom is succeeding someone who could be considered his quasi-uncle, since his inauguration continues the decades-long saga of four San Francisco families intertwined by blood, by marriage, by money, by culture and, of course, by politics – the Browns, the Newsoms, the Pelosis and the Gettys.

          The connections date back at least 80 years, to when Jerry Brown’s father, Pat Brown, ran for San Francisco district attorney, losing in 1939 but winning in 1943, with the help of his close friend and Gavin Newsom’s grandfather, businessman William Newsom.”

          Correction tape possible (I hope) but improbable (I think).

          1. “…the Browns, Newsoms, Pelosis and the Gettys.”

            No mention of the Cranstons whose schitt didn’t stink?

          2. No mention of the Cranstons whose schitt didn’t stink?

            Do tell or link! I know Liddle Shifty Schitt is dirty. The Cranston name is new to me.

          4. Are you a Spring Chicken?

            Relatively speaking, yes. And I really didn’t pay attention to politics until a few years ago.

    2. No dogs climbing mountains today, but here is a picture of a fox at elevation 12,400 feet just below the summit of a peak in Colorado’s Lost Creek Wilderness:

      https://imgur.com/a/BTKzHmq

      You rarely see a fox this high, above treeline. I’ve only seen another one above treeline once near the summit of a 14er in the San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado.

    3. Is this effectively the end of women’s sports, assuming gender equality is the way forward in athletic competition and all other aspects of life? Why waste money on separate but equal programs if anyone can compete in either without regard to gender preference?

  14. I was going through some foreclosure listings and came across this. I’m not going to post the address cuz I don’t want to unjustly accuse someone, but check this out:

    Huntington Beach, CA

    Date Event Price
    3/15/2019 Sold $652,000 +17.9%
    1/8/2019 Pending sale $553,000 —
    12/19/2018 Price change $553,000 -16.1%
    11/8/2018 Pending sale $659,250 —
    10/23/2018 Back on market $659,250 —
    6/8/2018 Pending sale $659,250 —
    6/5/2018 Price change $659,250 +1.4%
    3/28/2018 Pending sale $650,000 —
    2/20/2018 Price change $650,000 -10.6%
    2/20/2018 Back on market $727,000 —
    12/12/2017 Pending sale $727,000 +3.9%
    12/8/2017 Listed for sale $699,999 +21.7%
    7/10/2006 Sold $575,000 -0.2%
    11/10/2004 Sold $576,000 +42.2%
    6/2/2003 Sold $405,000 +35.5%
    10/5/2001 Sold $299,000

    It wasn’t fixed up, it’s a dump. They had just cut the price, and shazaam! It sells for 100k over asking, and immediately goes into short sale. Anyone remember Deb, the USH who posted here in 2005-2006? Prices had just started falling and she noticed suddenly shacks were selling for way over asking. Turned out to be wide-spread fraud.

    1. “2005-2006? Prices had just started falling and she noticed suddenly shacks were selling for way over asking.”

      “Turned out to be wide-spread fraud.”

      I do remember homeless people dying on the streets in that time period who owned 2 or 3 houses purchased with Liar Loans and the assistance of a Realtor and Mortgage Broker.

    2. There was fraud in condo sales up and down ocean blvd in Long Beach, CA. In mid 2000’s.
      Sale prices way over comp. Straw buyers etc.
      The small fish were convicted, the big fish hired better attorneys and were found not guilty
      Sad

      1. The scale of the fraud in the last bubble was all encompassing and most of those fraudsters are still in the business.

  17. “Then, there are the questions about Korge’s history as a former South Florida lobbyist and power broker. In 2004, he attracted the attention of federal prosecutors for allegedly setting up sham minority-owned firms to help clients of his lobbying business win concessions contracts at Miami International Airport. He denied any wrongdoing and was never convicted of a crime.”

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chris-korge-dnc-finance-chair-affirms-neutrality-amid-bernie-sanders-allies-concerns_n_5cded67ee4b00735a91608a5

    LOL@ South Florida

  19. Sorry this is off topic…unless the subject is falling home prices.

    Central Auckland house prices plummet, Real Estate Institute data shows
    Susan Edmunds
    10:59, Apr 24 2019

    There is a lot of variation across the city.

    Property prices in some parts of Auckland have fallen by more than a quarter, year-on-year.

    New data from the Real Estate Institute shows sales activity around the city in the six months to the end of March, compared to the same time the year before.

    Mt Albert had the biggest price fall, from a median $1.170 million last year to $805,250 this year – a drop of 31.2 per cent.

    Royal Oak had the next biggest drop, from $1.160m in 2018 to $865,000 this year, or 25.4 per cent.
    …

  20. Herald Tribune? Known by locals as a biased mouth piece for the realtors/developers in that area!!

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