Lisa Simpson
May 19,2010
In: Foreclosures

Foreclosures High in Idaho’s Treasure Valley

Foreclosures high in Idaho’s Treasure Valley.

The US economy is on a tailspin. Unemployment is at its peak. As people lose jobs, even those with sound credit history are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures have become common.

In Idaho’s Treasure valley, sale of foreclosed homes have increased. The region encompasses Boise, Weiser and Mountain Home. Homes in the region are also being increasingly taken over by banks. The number of bank owned properties is now 1734.
However, the pace of listing slowed down in the region in February by almost 16.8 per cent compared to the previous month. 2,167 foreclosures were posted in February. Of this, the number of REOs was 338. This marked a decrease from the number of homes taken over by lenders in January – 509.
It may be pointed out here that the Federal government had come up with a program to stem the tide of foreclosures. As part of this program, loans of homeowners are being modified, first on a temporary basis, and then permanently. However, the program has had little impact on homes that have negative equity. Homeowners owe more on these homes than they are actually worth. Hence, they find it better to walk out of these homes rather than stay in them.
REOs made up for a total of 19.55 per cent of 2,603 foreclosures in Idaho. In February, the number of foreclosures comprised 15.6 per cent of the total foreclosures filed. This plunge in the number of foreclosed homes shows that banks are delaying the process of foreclosures. Repossession, however, shot up in Ada and Canyon. Real estate developers say that there can be a deluge of foreclosures once again as repossessed homes increase.

The combined postings in the two counties have just shot up. Whereas Canyon registered 352 foreclosures, Ada had 597 filings. This represented a huge increase of 30 per cent from that of February.

Short sales have also shot up. Such sales occur when owners are willing to accept less from what their houses are worth. Homeowners find it better to walk out of the homes in order to maintain their credit scores.

Experts observe that foreclosures will be high throughout 2010. A major stumbling block in the path of improvement of the real estate scenario is the employment issue. Until and unless, people find jobs, they will not be able to pay loan installments on time. Foreclosures would continue to rise.