President Obama Announces Housing Rescue Plan

February 20, 2009 · Filed Under Economic Impact of Foreclosures, Human Impact of Foreclosures, Loss Mitigation, Short Sale · Comment 

President Obama announced a housing rescue plan in the state of Arizona in the town of Meza whereby more than half the homes on sale are facing foreclosure.

Lynn Murtagh a real estate broker who works for that Coldwell Banker Residential in Mesa said that 25% of the 3149 homes put up for sale are owned by banks. They are either repossessions or properties given back by borrowers who were not able to pay up their mortgage.

The number of homes up for short sale that is those sold at a lesser value is approximately 27%. This means that more than 50 % of houses on the market are distressed properties.

The Phoenix metro area has seen a rise in foreclosures and more than 6% have received a foreclosure filing during the year according to RealtyTrac. In the month of January alone according to current foreclosure statics, there were 1,079 foreclosures; this represents a 33% rise a year earlier and a staggering 318% rise from the same month in 2007.

Earlier in this decade, the whole area of Phoenix experienced rapid growth in real estate due to an increase in population and realtors from high priced places like California looked to spread out. Investors enriched themselves back then since prices for homes appreciated. According to a report by the National Association of Realtors, the average real estate prices in the fourth quarter of 2005 were close to 50% higher than in the year 2004.

Since that period however, the prices of homes in Mesa have dropped drastically. Price declines in several neighbourhoods are very severe. An example given by Murtagh is whereby people bought homes for about $225,000 in the year 2005 and they have now listed the same properties for $75,000.

Many recent home owners are now in a tight fix in their mortgages since they owe more than their homes are actually worth. This makes them increasingly vulnerable to foreclosure. During the housing boom, according to Murtagh, many Mesa home buyers opted for exotic mortgage products such as adjustable rate mortgage (ARMs), hybrid ARMs, no-doc loans and interest only loans which are now failing at an alarming rate. Many foreclosures are as a result of these unmanageable mortgages due to predatory lending and falling property prices than from the global economic crisis.

Job losses in the area have resulted in people falling back on their mortgages since many residents were employed in the housing industry either as construction workers or sales persons and other fields reliant on home sales. Murtagh is of the opinion that if the job losses could be stemmed, then many people would be able to stop foreclosure and keep their homes.

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