Industry economists have predicted that home sales will increase to a 5.35 million annual rate. They said that the housing market has to thank first-time homebuyers who decided to take advantage and apply for the $8,000 tax credit and the low-priced properties.

But the federal program is about to come to end by November 30. Already, several efforts have been launched to seek the expansion and extension of the federal program.

Advocates pointed out that without the federal program, the housing market would be slow to recover. However, some economists said that the program has merely shifted sales from one time to another and has not done much to treat the gaping wound in the housing market.

They acknowledge that the housing market really showed some improvements in the past few months as indicated in the reduction of inventories. According to market data, the total number of properties on the inventory dropped by 7.5 percent to 3.63 million by the end of September.

However, some economists do not put much faith on the numbers which they claimed do not include the shadow inventory. They explained that the shadow inventory is largely composed of bank-owned properties and were not on the market list.

On the other hand, some economists think that extending the federal tax program may not be a good move on the part of policymakers. They said that the government is subsidizing the program and spending money that it does not have. They pointed out that people have to learn to prepare themselves to grow at a sustainable way rather than rely on government stimulus which is currently driving the economy.

Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service is conducting an investigation on the over 100,000 shady claims for tax break. So far, there were nearly 1 million tax break claims which means a 10 percent rate of potential fraud.

Market data also showed that median home price continued to drop with last month’s price declining by 9 percent to $174,000. Economists said that tax credit could not prevent prices from dropping another 5 percent on the coming months

Tissa said that the companies failed to pay the mortgage for their $4 million loan. The properties located at 210 Torrington Road, 115 Torrington Road, 193 Torrington Road, 214 Torrington Road and 331 Phelps Road were used as collateral in a 2007 deal which named more than 20 guarantors, including Silano’s attorney Ralph Crozier and Aurora Rosa, his business partner.

The multi family homes project is said to be the biggest in the real estate development history of Winsted. The project includes development of 455 adult subdivision units, 225 condominium units and a 641-acred golf course.

The Winsted Planning and Zoning Commission approved the development project which was planned in two phases, sometime in 2006 and 2008. The work has already started in the area planned for a subdivision.

According to industry experts, both Winchester Highland Ridge and Winchester Estates LLC owed unpaid taxes amounting to $10,894, plus interest. Both companies’ taxes were unpaid since 2006.

Meanwhile, Pension Services has filed a lawsuit against Winchester Estates for payments exceeding $340,000. Pension Services said that Winchester Estates had defaulted on its mortgage. Additionally, TD Bank also filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Silano after he allegedly issued a bad check. The bank is demanding payment of $105,000.

Industry experts said many real estate development projects are going into foreclosures. What is happening in Connecticut is mirrored across the country as foreclosure rates continued to soar. Many development projects are vacant or halfway constructed.

Experts said that lenders are refusing to provide refinancing to many developers because they are unsure about the current market situation and they do not want to risk putting their money on an unstable market. Many of them would approve to restructure troubled loans only if developers would be able to provide new cash infusion on their projects.

Additionally, multi family homes developers are hesitant to take more risks on the housing market as home prices and values continued to drop drastically.

According to the study, there has been a significant increase in the number of foreclosures for top-tier homes, with 35 percent foreclosure in middle-tier housing and 30 percent in the top-tier and 35 percent in the bottom-tier.

Industry experts noted the dramatic increase in foreclosures and the significant shift to more repossession in the top tier. Last year, top tier homes accounted for 16 percent of foreclosure rates while 29 percent in the middle-tier.

In Hartford, Connecticut, completed sales for single family homes increased by 2.91 percent to 976 in September from 948 for the same month last year. Meanwhile pending home sales also rose by 16.47 percent to 976 in September from 948 for the same month the previous year.

Industry experts said that the increase in home sales last month was probably due to the federal tax credit of $8,000 which is given to first-time homebuyers only. However, the tax credit is set to expire on November 30. They believe that the U.S. Congress should find a way to expand and extend the federal tax credit as a way to maintain the current home sales trend across the country.

On the other hand, while pending and closed sales increased, the median home sale price in Connecticut declined by 4.35 percent to $220,000 from $230,000 the previous year. Also, new listings declined by 9/14 percent while the number of properties on the market dropped by 6.82 percent.

Experts also pointed out that houses are spending more and more time remaining unsold on the market. On the average, a home stays on the market 69 days from 64 days. Additionally, pending sales last month rose by 2.95 percent compared with August while closed sales declined by 6.08 percent.

A sad note was the 6.38 percent drop in the median home price in September compared to the $235,000 the previous month.

Nationwide, over 16 million homeowners have lower home values compared with their mortgages. To qualify for refinancing, lenders are requiring that owners of single family homes cover the cost difference and others.

Experts pointed out that the glut in the commercial real estate market has hindered construction of new towers in the Atlanta metropolitan area for the years to come. In Buckhead, over 3 million-square-foot of office space is empty.

The trend in the Atlanta office market indicates the difficulty of building managers and owners to find tenants in the current market that has more office space supply than demand.

The increase in bank and government tax foreclosures and unemployment has also left many office spaces unoccupied. In metropolitan Atlanta, the 24-million-square-foot vacant office space had a negative absorption rate of 59,000-square-foot from July to September this year. The third quarter negative absorption was the fourth in a row.

Industry experts said that if the market would start to improve now, with an estimated 500,000-square-foot office space being filled every three months, it would still take about 12 years for all the current empty spaces to be filled up.

Normally, quarterly absorption of office space was about 300,000 square feet to 700,000 square feet. Industry experts said that in 2007, they predicted that the office market would recover by 2010. But now, they are not sure if there would be a recovery anytime soon.

The massive job loss across the region has taken its toll on the commercial market. For the last three years, nearly 50,000 employees have become jobless as companies trim down their spending and downsized their operation in order to survive the long-running economic downturn.

The vacancy rate in the Atlanta office market rose by 18.1 percent in the third period from 15.7 percentage points for the same quarter a year ago. Downtown Atlanta vacancy rate was up by 13.6 percent in the third quarter while the suburban office market vacancies reached 17.4 percent from 15.3 percentage points.

Industry experts said that current trends, including increasing unemployment, bank and government tax foreclosures and continuing rent decline, are working against the immediate recovery of the office market in Atlanta.

Industry experts attributed the unabated spread of foreclosures not just in Illinois but across the country to the growing unemployment rate. In October, about 200,000 people lost their jobs, the smallest monthly unemployment figures for the year.

Experts said that if people lost their source of income, it follows that they could not afford to pay their utilities and mortgages, thus resulting to more foreclosure properties. But unlike the first wave of foreclosure which was caused by bad lending practices, the current crop of foreclosures involved borrowers who could afford to pay their mortgages if not for some mitigating circumstances which left them with no choice but to miss on their mortgage payments.

Industry experts said that Illinois is not the only place in the country that is seeing the unemployment crisis pushing the foreclosure problem to spread to the suburban areas. They said that most inner city foreclosures involved borrowers stuck with predatory loans. With suburban foreclosures, distressed borrowers have mostly lost their jobs.

Recent market data showed that foreclosure rates in Illinois jumped in the third quarter. About 1,692 houses were in some kind of foreclosure proceedings in Lake County from July to September, representing an 83 percent increase. In DuPage County, nearly 1,831 homeowners received a foreclosure filing, a 67 percent rise from the same period last year. In Will County, foreclosure filings hit 1,780, a jump of 54 percent from same period last year.

Industry analysts said that the foreclosure crisis will continue to soar until such time that the economy recovers and majority of people were given back their jobs. They said that it is logical to associate the growing unemployment rate to the rising foreclosures because people would not want to lose their American dreams if only they have the means to hold on to them.

Meanwhile, the federal government has been trying to control the spread of foreclosures by offering various programs designed to help distressed homeowners save their properties from foreclosures. These programs include the loan modification and refinancing.

But industry experts said that no matter how affordable the housing rates are, if people do not have jobs to allow them to keep paying their mortgages, many would still end up with foreclosure properties.

The study pointed out that most foreclosure prices in many states are increasing. The biggest foreclosure price increase is reported in Arizona which saw an average 15.51 percent jump to about $285,257 From November 1 to 3. The November figures were higher compared with the listing average price of $246,944 for the whole month of October.

Some states also experienced price increases in bank foreclosures for sale, albeit at smaller averages. In California, foreclosure home prices jumped by 1.83 percent, 1.45 percent in Nevada and 1.27 percent in Texas.

Meanwhile, foreclosure prices dropped in three states in November compared with the average price in October. Maine posted a price drop of 1.88 percent, 0.72 percent in West Virginia and 0.6 percent in Washington.

According to industry analysts, the overall jump in foreclosure home prices nationwide may have been influenced by supply and demand. They said that when the foreclosure activity slowed down, it resulted to fewer foreclosure properties on the market for sale. Most foreclosure homes are available at discount prices that is why they are considered as good investments.

Investors loaded with cash have been flocking to foreclosure auctions to find good deals. They are not alone in their quest for foreclosure properties as first-time buyers, emboldened by the federal tax credit, also compete for cheap foreclosure houses.

Industry experts said that in some states, multiple offers are being made for foreclosure properties, pushing higher the sale prices.

Meanwhile, experts are not sure what to make of the current trend in the foreclosure market. Many of them said that the rise in foreclosure prices will not last long because of another wave of foreclosure that is expected to flood the market.

They said that many homeowners have been seeing the values of their properties dropped to less than the total amount of their mortgage. And with the growing unemployment rate and uncertainty in the economy, many homeowners have decided to walk away from their properties, leaving them to become bank foreclosures for sale.

Home mortgage provider, Fannie Mae said that the delinquency rates on single-family home loans it insured rose to 4.45 percent, representing a 0.28 percent point rise from the 1.57 percent rate last year.

On the other hand, the delinquency rate on multifamily home loans remained unchanged at 0.56 percent for the same month. However, it was higher compared with 0.16 percent a year earlier. Industry analysts said that delinquency rate does not reflect the actual government foreclosure homes but it could be a precursor of the trend in the housing market.

In September, the mortgage investment portfolio of Fannie Mae increased by 22.4 percent in annual rate to $792.7 billion. For year-to-date, the annual rate was 0.9 percent. Fannie Mae’s portfolio was around $761.4 billion in September last year.

The total mortgage investments of Fannie Mae rose by an annualized rate of 5.2 percent in September, hitting $3.243 trillion. For year-to-date, it rose by an annualized rate of 5.7 percent. According to Fannie Mae, it provided market liquidity totaling $67 billion for 6.9 percent annualized rate in September, hitting $2.821 trillion. The annualized year-to-date rate was 10.8 percent.

Meanwhile, a drop in the mortgage-backed securities issuance was recorded in September, from about $62.1 billion to nearly $59.2 billion. Liquidations also dropped to around $44.6 billion. Similarly, another home mortgage agency, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. of Freddie Mac reported an increase in delinquencies on its guaranteed loans. The agency’s mortgage investment portfolio also rose by 7.3 percent annualized rate in September.

The growing delinquencies are putting strain on the finances of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. On its part, Freddie Mac reported delinquency acceleration of 3.33 percent from 3.13 percentage point in August and September last year’s 1.22 percent.

The company’s multifamily delinquency rate rose slightly by 0.11 percent while the volume of its refinance loan purchase dropped by 21.4 billion from $35.6 billion.

Industry expert said that delinquency rates does not reflect the actual government foreclosure homes numbers because some distressed homeowners may find ways to save their properties from foreclosures.

Bryant is one of the partners in corporations which owned the Three Bears Hotel. The sale of the campground was authorized by a judge at the Juneau County Circuit Court. The ruling to sell the campground was made in response to a loan foreclosure lawsuit that was filed last year against Ed Van Der Molen, an Illinois-based developer, by Bank of Mauston.

The hotel, water park situated indoors and convention center have yet to reopen since they were closed and placed on foreclosure property listings last year. But the campground was reopened this year although under court-appointed receivership and later closed last October 17. It is slated to be opened again by 2010. In addition, Bryant plans to renovate some of the campground’s cabins and to construct more cabins.

Industry experts said that the receiver for the property, who was appointed by the court, has been looking for potential buyers. Nearly $282,321 in back property taxes were received by the county government after the sale of the property to Warrens Lodging.

Meanwhile, Monroe County officials are planning to start tax lien foreclosure process against the Jellystone hotel resort on September next year, unless the delinquent taxes were not settled. The hotel resort and the campground owed a total of $1.7 million in delinquent property taxes.

According to Bryant, he does not have any plan to purchase the indoor water park, hotel and convention center. However, he is confident that the hotel resort could find a buyer before the county starts foreclosure proceedings September next year. He pointed out that the property is first class but embroiled in some legal issues that have been resolved in the past few weeks.

Industry experts said that Bryant has been an investor in the Jellsytone hotel resort in 2007. But they clarified that Bryant was not involved in the campground.

Bryant said that he purchased the campground which was on foreclosure property listings because it complements other campgrounds on his portfolio. He explained that the campground was the largest property on Jellystone Park franchise and features amenities such as two small golf courses and an outdoor water park.

The county is not alone in its program to help eligible buyers in buying home foreclosures. Many areas across the country are also giving out financial assistance to encourage home ownership and at the same time, reduced the number of foreclosure properties that are becoming a hindrance towards achieving a full market recovery.

Industry experts said that foreclosure houses are pulling down home prices and values in neighborhoods and attracting vandals and criminals. Having them around, and in large volume, do not do the housing market any good because it destabilizes prices and values.

By helping prospective buyers purchase foreclosure houses, the federal government is promoting homeownership and at the same time addressing the problems created by the foreclosure crisis.

On the other hand, the city of Modesto is facing the possibility of losing nearly $8.1 million in repossession relief funds because it failed to find a way to effectively spend the money. The city’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) is different compared with Stanislaus County which purchase foreclosure homes and place them back on the market for sale to first-time homebuyers.

With Modesto, they allow the buyers the initiative to find, purchase and repair their own foreclosure houses. In so doing, buyers would be able to obtain a loan for both down payments and repairs.

However, the city’s NSP program failed to live up to expectations as no homebuyer has successfully completed the requirements for the city’s down payment program. This resulted to the city still holding the $8.1 million NSP funds, with no record of ever helping a family purchase a house.

Officials involved in the community development project said that the process failed to produce the desired results and so were looking at potential ways to use the money. They said that a proposal will be presented before the Modesto City Council for organizations to use the federal funds to purchase foreclosure houses for resell or rentals.

Many city officials agreed that buying home foreclosures and placing them back on the market for sale is a productive use for the federal funds.

The total home sales in the Miami region moved up in September, with sub-$100,000 deals accounting for about one-third of the total sales. However, the median price dropped to about $159,000 from $160,000 for three consecutive months.

In the Miami metropolitan area that covers the counties of Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward, there were about 7,225 completed sales for condominiums, new and resale homes. The numbers represented a 0.7 percent increase from August and 31.1 percent rise from September 2008’s 5,509.

Furthermore, the total number of escrow closings was the third lowest for the month of September, way below the figures in 2007 and 2008. Also, September was the seventh straight month in which sales have increased on a year-to-year basis in the Miami region.

In single family homes prices, September numbers posted 48.8 percent which were below the 211 peak price posted in the region in the summer of 2006.

According to industry analysts, the 0.7 sales gains posted in September was abnormal. They said that since 1997, home sales usually dropped about 10.6 percent between September and August. They observed that September home sales were also unusually strong in other housing markets, nationwide.

Analysts said that the most likely reasons are short sales which are starting to become popular as a way for distressed homeowners to avoid the trouble of the foreclosure proceedings, new appraisal rules which have resulted to longer escrows, historically low loan rates and the flood of first-time buyers looking for cheap foreclosure properties to buy before the federal tax credit of $8,000 will expire.

Properties that sold below $100,000 accounted for 31 percent of the total sales, an increase of 30 percent from August and 13.8 percent compared with the previous year.

Industry experts said that foreclosures are still a force to reckon with in the housing market, pulling down prices as what happened with single family homes with price declines for 36 straight months.