It is estimated that one out of ten American homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments or were already in foreclosure during the third quarter of this year. This is amid job losses and real estate prices tumbling in the world's largest economy. Mortgages 30 days or more overdue, rose almost 7 percent while loans already in foreclosure rose almost 3 percent. These are both all time highs.

Florida ranks sixth in delinquencies nationwide and second in foreclosures started during the same quarter. That averages out to about 9 percent of the states mortgage loans were delinquent. Florida home loans in foreclosure  were up 7.32 percent, in the third quarter, up 2.9 percent for the same period last year.

Many people feel that this whole situation was inevitable due to the fact that during the  five year boom  of real estate, many people bought homes and properties, that they could not afford in the first place. They took interest only loans, with little or no money down and counted on these properties appreciating at an unrealistic rate. It was a game. As many people have discovered the hard way, this game went very, very wrong and many people who played this game got caught.

 Palm Beach County Florida, which includes Boca Raton real estate, had 1.307 homeowners facing foreclosure in October compared with 300 a year ago. The county had 2,161 residents in various stages of foreclosure. One positive note is that existing home sales actually have been increasing in South Florida since July due to the fact that prices are plunging. Couple that up with low interest rates and it actually points to a very opportunistic time to buy. Qualified buyers are getting fantastic deals. Sellers are selling for much lower prices that they thought they would ever sell for but they have to keep one very impotant thing in mind. They are selling at all time lows but when they move forward and buy another home, they will also be buying at all time lows. It's a "wash", so to speak. Sometimes though, it's a hard thing to swallow.

http://www.bocaratonrealestatehomes.com/00485C

From all of the determining factors, it seems that we have not hit bottom in the real estate housing market as of yet.Economists are calling for prices to continue to fall through 2009 and in some areas, even longer. This would all have to do with the severity of an anticipated recession.

 The most hard hit areas are California, Florida and Arizona.The scenario is that more and more homes are coming on the market with fewer and fewer people willing to buy them or afford them. It is a vicious cycle. On top of that is the rising unemployment rate, falling wages and escalating mortgage rates. Add those up, and the pool of qualified buyers gets even smaller.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are trying to cushion themselves from potential losses. if a home loses value. They have increased their fees to customers who have good, but not excellent credit.Even potential borrowers who are putting down as much as thirty percent!Those fees are usually factored into the rate and are not so hard for the borrower to accept. The national average rate for a 30year fixed rate mortgage is 6.75% and in  parts of Southwest Florida as high as 8%.

With all of this doom and gloom, it seems that everything is just going to crash. It is true that we are in some very hard times in all sectors of our economy, especially real estate. As a Realtor in the Boca Raton Florida area, we have seen many changes in our market place. From homes apprciating almost on a daily basis to now seeing so many short sales, foreclosures and empty homes, it has been a complete 180. The bottom or near bottom presents many opportunities for buyers.

With all of the baby boomers retiring, with pensions and homes paid off up north, they still are looking to Florida to settle in. They have an unbelievable opportunity to buy at all time discount prices where 3 - 5 years ago, the same property was just out of reach. The Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach, Pompano Beach areas are all prime locations for these people. People coming down to the Boca Raton area this winter will, most likely have many buying opportunities and will buy.

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The population in Boca Raton, as of 2006, according to the US Census Bureau, is 86,396. Approximately 120,000 people live in unincorporated areas near the city, so the population with a the postal address of "Boca Raton" is about 200,000. The city land area is 29.6 square miles.

Among the most common occupations in Boca Raton are Management, professional and related occupations making up 47%, Sales and office occupation, 25%,and Service related occupations 12%. Approximately 76% of workers in Boca Raton, Florida, work for companies, 10% for for the government and 7% are self employed.

The most commonly listed jobs in Boca Raton are for physical therapist jobs, travel nurse jobs, physical therapist assistant jobs, occupational therapists jobs, part time work and store management jobs. Some of the most popular companies in the area are Home Depot, Best Buy, Washington Mutual, Office Depot and Tenant Healthcare.

The average salary for jobs in Boca Raton, Florida, according to goverment data is $52,134 and the median income of households was $55,733.

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New Numbers: Foreclosures Soar, Florida Second in US

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Experts: National Foreclosures Down in August, but Florida Up

October 23, 2008 - 7:26AM Lindsay Cohen

The numbers are out and the outlook is grim: the amount of homeowners rocked by nation's the foreclosure crisis grew by more than 70 percent in the third quarter of this year, compared with last.

New statistics released Thursday morning by California-based RealtyTrac propel Florida into the second-highest spot in the country when it comes to foreclosure filings. One in every 178 housing units in Florida received a foreclosure filing in September, the company said.

Records show foreclosure filings on 47,956 Florida properties during the month. That's a 44 percent increase compared to September 2007.

The numbers push Florida into the second-highest position nationally. Nevada remains tops in foreclosure filings. California, Arizona, and Georgia round out the top five.

There is some good news in the numbers. RealtyTrac reports a 12 percent decline in forcelosures nationally. The company attributes this to new laws that impact the market, especially in California. 

"Much of the 12 percent decrease in September can be attributed to changes in state laws that have at least temporarily slowed down the pace at which lenders are moving forward with foreclosures," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement.

South Florida does not stack up well in the new rankings, although Palm Beach appears to be doing better than other metropolitan areas in the state. The Palm Beach metro area ranks 19th in foreclosure filings nationally, while Miami is 13th and Ft. Lauderdale ranks fifth.

RealtyTrac is based in Irvine, CA. The company uses default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions to calculate foreclosure filings in its reports.

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Existing-Home Sales Slide on Tight Mortgage Availability

Existing-home sales were down in August following a healthy gain in July as tight mortgage credit curtailed activity, according to the National Association of Realtors^®. Sales rose in the Midwest and South but fell in the Northeast and West.

Nationally, existing-home sales - including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops -declined 2.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 4.91 million units in August from an upwardly revised pace of 5.02 million in July, but are 10.7 percent below the 5.50 million-unit pace in August 2007.

NAR President Richard F. Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif., said the pendulum in the mortgage market has swung too far. "The difficulty in obtaining a mortgage increased over past couple months, making it more challenging for creditworthy borrowers to find financing," he said. "Our hope is that overly tight lending criteria can be loosened with reasonable standards and credit so that sales activity can catch up with demand. Interest rates have already declined, but there is a serious question as to whether a cash infusion by the U.S. Treasury into Wall Street would help consumers by improving mortgage funding.

"We urge Congress to restore access to sound mortgage credit so people have the ability to make and keep a long-term investment in the American dream of homeownership. Congress needs to take care of Main Street and not just bail out Wall Street."

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.48 percent in August from 6.43 percent in July; the rate was 6.57 percent in August 2007. However, last week the 30-year fixed had dropped to 5.78 percent.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the recent drop in interest rates is an immediate impact of recent government action. "August sales reflect higher interest rates before the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and the sudden drop in mortgage interest rates over the past couple weeks is improving housing affordability," he said. "With higher loan limits and a beefing up of the FHA program, all the mechanisms have been falling into place to increase mortgage availability.

"However, home sales will be constrained without a freer flow of credit into the mortgage market. The faster that happens, the sooner we'll see a broad stabilization in home prices that in turn will help the economy recover," Yun said. "Historically, housing has led the nation out of economic doldrums - there will not be an economic recovery without a housing recovery."

The national median existing-home price2 for all housing types was $203,100 in August, down 9.5 percent from a year ago when the median was $224,400.

"The median home price reflects more transactions related to subprime loans," Yun said. "Fewer than 10 percent of homeowners have subprime loans, but these mortgages are accounting for a disproportionately high share of sales in the current market. On the other hand, areas that have had sharp price cuts are seeing a turnaround in sales, which are rising very fast now in parts of California, Florida and Nevada."

Total housing inventory at the end of August fell 7.0 percent to 4.26 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 10.4-month supply3 at the current sales pace, down from a revised 10.9-month supply in July.

Single-family home sales slipped 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.35 million in August from an upwardly revised pace of 4.41 million in July, but are 9.6 percent below the 4.81 million-unit level a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $201,900 in August, down 9.7 percent from August 2007.

Existing condominium and co-op sales dropped 8.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000 units in August from an upwardly revised level of 610,000 in July, and are 19.0 percent below the 691,000-unit pace in August 2007. The median existing condo price4 was $212,600 in August, which is 7.2 percent below a year ago.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 0.9 percent in August to a pace of 1.14 million but are 12.3 percent below August 2007. The median price in the Midwest was $168,000, down 5.6 percent from a year ago.

In the South, existing-home sales increased 0.5 percent to an annual pace of 1.86 million in August, but are 15.1 percent below a year ago. The median price in the South was $176,500, which is 3.4 percent lower than August 2007.

Existing-home sales in the West fell 5.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.07 million in August, but are 4.9 percent higher than August 2007. The median price in the West was $251,600, down 23.9 percent from a year ago. "The highest concentration of foreclosures is in the West, which is weighing down the median price because many buyers are taking advantage of deeply discounted prices," Yun said.

In the Northeast, existing-home sales dropped 6.6 percent to an annual pace of 850,000 in August, and are 15.0 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $271,000, down 3.8 percent from August 2007.

Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine [September, 2008] with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

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