Zorell's Industry Updates

Here are some quick stats on our state foreclosure and NOD activity.  Are we at bottom?  You make the call... 

While most first quarter 2009 foreclosure activity was still concentrated in affordable inland communities, there were signs that the foreclosure problem was intensifying in more expensive areas. The state's most affordable sub-markets, which represent 25 percent of the state's housing stock, accounted for more than 52.0 percent of all default activity in 2008. In first quarter 2009 it fell to 47.5 percent, and last quarter it dipped to 45.0 percent.

On primary mortgages, California homeowners were a median five months behind on their payments when the lender filed the notice of default. The borrowers owed a median $12,911 on a median $345,000 mortgage.

On home equity loans and lines of credit, borrowers owed a median $4,152 on a median $65,700 credit line. However the amount of the credit line that was actually in use cannot be determined from public records.

San Diego-based MDA DataQuick is a division of MDA Lending Solutions, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. MDA DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. Notices of Default are recorded at county recorders offices and mark the first step of the formal foreclosure process.

Although 124,555 default notices were filed last quarter, they involved 122,829 homes because some borrowers were in default on multiple loans (e.g. a primary mortgage and a line of credit). Multiple default recordings on the same home are trending down, DataQuick reported.

Mortgages were least likely to go into default in San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties -- the historical norm. The probability was highest in Merced, Riverside, and Madera counties.

Trustees Deeds recorded, or the actual loss of a home to foreclosure, totaled 45,667 during the second quarter. That's up 4.7 percent from 43,620 for the prior quarter, and down 27.9 percent from 63,316 for second-quarter 2008. They reached a record 79,511 during last year's third quarter before dropping because of a new state law that slowed the entire foreclosure process and lenders' temporary policy changes (e.g. a temporary foreclosure moratorium).

In the last real estate cycle, Trustees Deeds peaked at 15,418 in third-quarter 1996. The state's all-time low was 637 in the second quarter of 2005, MDA DataQuick reported.

There are 8.5 million houses and condos in the state.

Foreclosure resales declined slightly as a market factor, accounting for 50.1 percent of all California resale activity last quarter. It was 57.8 percent the prior quarter, a year ago it was 40.1 percent. Foreclosure resales varied significantly by area, from 6.3 percent in Marin County to 78.3 percent in Merced County.

Notices of Default (first step in foreclosure process)
houses and condos

* includes additional counties