The Government implemented laws to push Banks to accept loan modifications for folks who were past due and underwater.
For the most part, it’s been a really really difficult process for homeowners to get the bank to want to do this. A program designed to help bridge the gap between homeowner and mortgage servicers is HOPE NOW.
In a report just out HOPE NOW said that its program helped homeowners complete over 75,000 permanent loan modifications during August. They also reported that over 16,000 modifications were completed through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
If you have gone through a Loan Modification or a Short Sale READ THIS about what impact it might have on your credit scores.Since January 1, 2012 over 400,000 homeowners have received proprietary modifications and HOPE NOW has processed over 143,000 through HAMP.
Short sales, which were virtually non-existent in the early days of HOPE NOW, have grown steadily over the last 2-1/2 years and the program is now utilizing these sales at nearly three times the rate it is putting loans through HAMP modifications. There were 39,559 short sales completed in August, a total of over 1 million since December, 2009.
The report showed that over 71,000 foreclosure sales were reported in August across the country. This is an increase of 12 percent over July’s number. It could be that homeowners and Banks are opting for the fastest option – foreclosure versus a temporary modification.
“We are seeing improvement across the board in ‘serious delinquencies’, currently at 2.42 million homeowners. While this is almost 40% lower than the all-time high of 4 million homeowners seriously past due on their mortgage, we cannot forget there are many more who remain at risk of foreclosure.”
What does this mean for housing in Raleigh, NC? If you are ready to sell a home in Raleigh the good news is that fewer and fewer people are finding it necessary to to either seek a modification or go into foreclosure.
We tell folks that the housing market in Raleigh is like the weather – it’s LOCAL. What do we mean by that? Well, it’s not sunny and 72 degrees across the country today – in some places it’s colder than that, in some places it’s warmer and raining. Although we do have a ton of people moving to Raleigh from other places in the Country… the Real Estate market is not really dictated by national trends. It’s dictated by whats going on in YOUR neighborhood.
To find out what prices and trends are like – contact a Real Estate Agent. They are an important part of your Homebuying or Home Selling Team! Don’t know one? Contact Steve and Eleanor Thorne – we work with the BEST Real Estate Agents in North Carolina, and we’d be glad to refer you! 919 649 5058 (we also have the best mortgage rates!)
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