The Foreclosure Report

Banks Offering Deals: Michigan, Ohio

From ABC Local 12 in Michigan. "Real estate agent John Cunningham says more than one-third of the home sales pending right now in Genesee County are in foreclosure. He's personally handing 43 homes that are in the process of foreclosure."

"'Buyers have a misconception that people are going to have to pay what somebody owed on the house,' Cunningham said. 'People are owing on this house over $190,000. Now the home's for sale for $149,900.'"

"The downside for sellers is that the rest of the market is competing with all those foreclosed homes and that's pushing down prices. 'Trying to sell and move out is bleak,' Cunningham said."

"Banks are getting very aggressive offering great deals. The inventory is sky high: more than 7,100 homes are for sale in Genesee County alone."

From USA Today. "Ohio's foreclosure rate is weighing on Cleveland's real estate market. In a one-two punch, manufacturing job losses and predatory lenders have hurt homeowners."

"In Ohio, one in every 10 subprime loans is in foreclosure. The number of homes for sale in Cleveland has risen to 49,000, a two-year supply. Nationally, by comparison, there's only about a seven-month inventory of homes for sale."

"'A lot of industrial jobs have left,' says Dennis Rath of ERA Rath Realtors. People used to commute to work at the steel mills in Lorain, for example, but now, 'Lorain is like a ghost town. There's nothing left.'"

"The market for first-time buyers, in Cleveland, typically homes priced below $150,000, is still strong, while homes listed above $180,000 are selling slowly."

posted by Ben Jones @ 11:58 AM