Report: Bank Foreclosures in Maricopa County AZ Vie with More Government Owned Repos

Jan. 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Santa Barbara, CA --- A large number of government owned foreclosure listings are competing with bank foreclosures for home buyers in Maricopa County Arizona, according to a new study performed by RealtyStore. The study analyzed all actively listed foreclosures by seller in the county and found 45% of all foreclosures up for sale in Maricopa County are marketed by Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac. HUD homes and VA foreclosure properties comprise about 2% of active foreclosure listings, while REO foreclosures from banks account for 53% of the listings.

Concerning quantities of listings, banks have 5,192 real estate foreclosures active on the Maricopa market, while Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac have 4,329 listings. This presence of government repossessed homes for sale in Maricopa outweighs other foreclosure-heavy markets like Los Angeles County, California and Broward County, Florida, where Fannie/Freddie foreclosures comprise just 18% and 28% of for-sale listings respectively.

"Government ownership of foreclosures is relatively high in Maricopa County," said Peter Ranck, Vice President at RealtyStore. "Nationwide, about 32% of foreclosures are listed for sale by government owners, including Fannie Mae and HUD. In Maricopa County, they account for nearly 47% of listings. Given this share of the market, heightened price competition may arise between banks and government sellers in the area."

In terms of list prices, banks and Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac properties already post between 30% and 33% lower median prices than the overall market median of $150,000 for Maricopa County. Bank foreclosures post a local median price of $105,000, while the Freddie Mac / Fannie Mae foreclosure median is $99,900. Both sellers have homes priced as low as $10,000, with approximately 30% of their homes listed at prices under $75,000. Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac listings range up to $849,000, while banks are marketing several multi-million dollar foreclosures, including a foreclosed 28 room Scottsdale estate for $4.75 million.

Of the 20,142 foreclosures recorded in the county, 10,496, or 52%, are still pending listing for re-sale by their institutional owners. These dormant REO listings contribute to Maricopa County's shadow inventory of repossessed property. Banks and government enterprises are anticipated to liquidate these properties at some point in the future. How and when the shadow inventory is disposed of may have future ramifications for local prices and sales rates.

See Arizona foreclosure listings at http://www.realtystore.com/foreclosures/arizona-foreclosures

Review national bank foreclosures at http://www.realtystore.com/foreclosures/bank-foreclosures...

Learn more about government owned and Fannie Mae foreclosure at http://www.realtystore.com/realty-guide/foreclosure-tutor...

Glossary:

REO = Real Estate Owned. Homes or land fully foreclosed upon and having title fully assumed by a lending institution, bank or a government sponsored enterprise (GSE) such as HUD homes, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae or the VA.

Foreclosure listing = An REO property actively listed for sale with a posted for-sale price.

Median price = The mid point of all prices of homes listed for sale in the market. The point where half of homes for sale are priced above and half are listed below the reported median price.

Shadow inventory = REO property which is in an institutional portfolio of owned assets, but is not presently listed with a price for re-sale on the public market.


Reporting methodology
RealtyStore County Foreclosure Trends studies provide the total number of REO foreclosure properties with a recording date on or before the date of this release. REO properties have completed the foreclosure process and have been repossessed by a bank, lending institution or government sponsored loan guarantor such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD or the VA. REO title holders, inventory counts and prices in any area can vary at any time. REO counts and prices are accessed through RealtyStore’s proprietary database which is derived through hundreds of public and private data providers. Local housing market data is derived from third party and public records offices.

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About RealtyStore
RealtyStore (www.realtystore.com), a division of Nations Info Corporation, is the leading provider of foreclosure listings and discount property data nationwide. RealtyStore's mission is to empower its customers with the tools, education and analysis required to identify and potentially maximize profits with undervalued real estate. Collected from hundreds of public and private sources, RealtyStore's proprietary database includes over 1 million listings including pre foreclosures, foreclosures, short sales, tax defaults and rent to own or owner financed listings. As the foreclosure listings industry leader, RealtyStore.com is the most visited foreclosure website, averaging over 1.1 million unique visitors per month in Q3, 2010. Realtystore.com is the only specialized foreclosures website to rank in the Hitwise Top 20 Internet Usage Report for the Real Estate Category (October 2010)