What do These Foreclosure Homes Have in Common?
July 19th, 2007 by 
Joseph Smith
Both the West and Eastern coasts of the U.S. are topping the ratings in numbers of foreclosure homes this year. At first glance real estate markets in Florida, California and the state of New York would seem to have little in common. Add Texas and Illinois to the mix and price range, housing styles, costs of housing and the various main factors generating high levels of distressed price homes are as alike as Johnny Appleseed and The Grinch. These states are at the top in terms of top heavy inventories of foreclosed property and yet their real estate markets are subject to quite different influences. Including New York in this group doesn’t mean you are now in 2007 going to get a Fifth Avenue property for a song. Nor is it likely that an empty but never occupied Miami condo is going for the price of a good vacation.
What it does mean though is that there are more sellers of foreclosure homes than interested buyers in key cities in all of these states, buyers who quite obviously do expect to take advantage of today’s housing slump and rising subprime mortgage defaults and get a great bargain.
Buyers, whether they are looking at foreclosures investing or starter homes, have more bargaining power than ever before in these states. Take Chicago, IL where foreclosure listings are exceeding sales, and 3 years of low demand for housing have followed on from huge job losses in the auto manufacturing region. Texas has always seemed to set its own real estate market conditions but is now noticing the effect of the more recent borrower’s inability to meet resetting monthly ARMs compounded by slow price appreciation of the property. Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville the largest Florida cities have the housing development spree fallout to add to subprime loans woes. And a Californian’s love of his/her property has not prevented the rash of foreclosure sale signs dotting neighborhoods of all income stratas, from the low cost immigrant and dormitory suburbs to the luxurious conclaves of the rich and famous.
Financial distress knows no boundaries. The traditional housing market slowdown in the Fall will surely add to the level of unsold foreclosure homes inventory in these large, populous and diverse States; buyers have never had it so good and there is better on the way.
