Judge Has Questions for Big Banks

In Trenton, New Jersey, the mortgages industry's biggest players have been called to court. The judges question is "why should you keep your license", considering that the six largest lenders made 30,000 foreclosure filings in this state alone. And as we all know, due to time constraints, did not or could not, make a real review of the documents before signing.

It is a good question, why should they keep their licenses? Firstly this question will most likely be asked in every State. The answer I fear is that the public has no choice. So I do not see any revocations.
But I fear some pretty hefty fines being placed which of course will be loose change for the big players.

Chicago South Side Markets Still Struggling

Below are median prices compared from the beginning of 2010 to the end of 2010. In each case taking the median for a three month period.

Oak Lawn $200,000-$197,400
Oak Forest $171,000-$174,750
Tinley Park $251,000-$215,000
Orland Park $290,000-$278,750
Bridgeview $155,000-$162,000
Burbank $170,100-$160,000
Evergreen Park $160,000-$149,000
Mt Greenwood $220,000-$232,900

It is interesting to note how adjacent communities can vary. Tinley Park has been in decline all year while Oak Forest has stuck its ground. The same story for Burbank and Bridgeview. In both cases it is the dominant community that is struggling.

It is good to see Mount Greenwood surviving. There are many comments to be made about Evergreen Park. Taxes and water are high for example. The schools used to be very good but are now far from the best.

1 in 5 of Homeowners With Mortgages Underwater!

Corelogic recently put out some data stating that the number of people with underwater mortgages has fallen to 10.8 million down from 11.3 million at the beginning of 2010. This is only an decrease of 500,000 nationwide. Not very much.



Depending on what you read that would mean 22.5 percent of Americans with a mortgage at the end of September 2010 (=48 million), or if take 51 million mortgages that mean 21.12%. Big deal either way that is 1 in 5.

But think of it like this if there are just 75 million owner occupied properties in the US that is 1 in 7 homes underwater.

But remember these numbers do not take into the cost of selling a home which on average is between 5%-8%.

On the good news side a program started in September ran by FHA to help with underwater homeowners. To qualify, borrowers must be current on their mortgages, and owe at least 15 percent more than their home’s current worth. Lenders must agree to forgive at least 10 percent of the homeowners debt. This is mostly likely to help 300,000 homeowners according to Barclays Capitol and 500,000- 1.5m according to the government.

Let us take 500,000 as a figure. That still leaves another 10.3 left in trouble. A number that is more likely to increase over the winter months rather than decrease.