Drop in Foreclosure Filings Not Necessarily A Good Thing
According to RealtyTrac’s midyear report the amount of foreclosure filings for the first half of 2011 have declined by 29%. Unfortunately the decline in filings isn’t due to hope that the market is actually recovering, but is actually due to the foreclosure process slowing down because of investigation into foreclosure practices.
An article from the Fiscal Times explains that upwards of one million foreclosures have been delayed from being filed from 2011 to 2012. This delay in processing has caused an increase in the shadow market. Many houses are in the pipeline for a foreclosure but haven’t been counted yet. Until the shadow market is worked through the housing market cannot recover.
It is predicted that housing values will continue to decline until at least 2012 and will hopefully reach a bottom. Anika Kahn, economist at Wells Fargo explains, “We are still searching for the bottom in housing. We’re in the middle of the home buying season and for it to be limping along is definitely not the most encouraging process.”
