The Foreclosure Report

Upside-Down A "No-Win Situation" In Texas

The Statesman from Texas. "Travis County home foreclosure postings for the first month of 2007 will rise slightly in today's auction, to 300 from 295 in December, according to a report. Compared with 278 postings in January 2006, however, foreclosures will be up 8 percent."

"Still, the postings are far lower than those filed in the January auctions for 2004 and 2005. The January '07 postings are 13 percent lower than the 345 filed two years ago and about 20 percent lower than the 373 record three years ago."

"Many of the upcoming residential foreclosure auctions 'had an upside-down loan-to-value ratio,' said George Roddy, president of the Addison-based firm that tracks foreclosures. 'Simply put, the homeowner has borrowed more money on the home than it is worth,' he said. 'So, generally, the homeowner cannot sell the property for the amount that he or she owes on it, and the lender has invested or loaned more than the property is worth. This creates a no-win situation.'"

"The highest percentage of upside-down postings in the Austin area for January will be in Bastrop County. 30 percent of the postings filed for January are upside-down. Upside-down postings make up 21 percent of the notices filed in Travis County, 21 percent in Williamson County and 23 percent in Hays County."

"Of the 20 counties tracked by Foreclosure Listings Service Inc. in North and Central Texas, Travis ranked sixth in total commercial and residential postings for 2006, with 3,713. That's a 6 percent decline from 2005. Leading the state was Dallas County, with 19,184 postings, followed by Tarrant, 12,763; Bexar, 8,837; Collin, 4,477; and Denton, 4,181. Williamson County, with 2,435 postings, ranked seventh, just behind Travis."

posted by Ben Jones @ 5:57 AM