Monday, November 15, 2010

How Does the Foreclosure Freeze Impact Housing?



The Optimists


Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Ally Financials GMAC mortgage division and PNC Financial, have all suspended home seizures in all 23 states where courts oversee foreclosures. Bank of America is halting foreclosures in all 50 states to examine its process. Past sales will stand, and if you are not already out of the house.


Eviction: you could be evicted unless the buyer was the bank, they will not evict during the freeze


Helps families: The foreclosure freeze may buy time for some families and allow them to catch up and stay in their homes which could help some families try to get back on their feet and catch up with payments.


Reduces housing supply: In the short term, the lack of new foreclosed properties coming on the market could help the housing industry by keeping supply off the market.


Better mortgage mods: If the banks cannot willy nilly foreclose on properties, they will be forced to lend a stronger hand to mortgage modifications benefiting many more people.


Writedowns: banks may finally realize that foreclosure is damaging and that loan writedowns could be taken more seriously as a less complicated option to getting inventory off the books and repairing balance sheets by making these assets whole


Short Sales: Banks may be more willing to accept a short-sale offer. If the foreclosure route is messy or even unavailable for some period,the banks may become more open to a short sale as an alternative to holding inventory.


The Pessimists


The moratoriums can be incredibly destructive to the fragile recovery of the housing and housing finance markets. Consumers looking to get back into housing are even more put off than before.


Inventory: Those freezes could delay the housing market's recovery and a moratorium would add time to the necessary process of washing out all that surplus inventory.


Price stability: It will be difficult for prices to stabilize as long as a large number of homes remain in the foreclosure pipeline. They are likely to hold off to see whether more supply would lower prices even more, leading to further house price declines.


Crime and disrepair: if some properties are not taken off the market and are allowed to be abandoned they can It will also create more crime since communities will have vacant homes sitting empty for longer periods of time


A freeze in sales: The title insurance protects the bank that issuing a new mortgage. Title insurance searches for problems with title and assures or insures that the propertry is free and clear and can be sold. No title insurance, no new mortgage and no foreclosure sale. Title Insurance payouts could be enormous.


The banks will pull it: Fannie & Freddie stand to lose billions and will take the banks to court to recoup.


Sales slow significantly: If title insurance companies start to shy away from insuring foreclosed properties because of unexpected claims, the housing market could take another hit. Sales could be hampered by difficulty in getting title insurance, at or by higher fees associated with higher risk assessment.




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1 comment:

  1. Indeed title insurance companies will be running away from insuring foreclosed properties, not only because of unexpected claims but fear of getting ruined too.

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