Why Would Lenders Hold Back Southern New Hampshire Foreclosures?

It’s in the news and has been for several months now; financial institutions may be holding back their inventory of Southern New Hampshire foreclosures and national foreclosures.  Why on earth would they do that?

For those of you who are wondering what would cause lenders to hold back on listing Southern New Hampshire foreclosures, here’s a little information that might enlighten:

•    April 2009, the San Francisco Chronicle published a news article about the state of foreclosed homes. In the article, Rick Sharga, vice president of RealtyTrac said, “We believe there are in the neighborhood of 600,000 properties nationwide that banks have repossessed but not put on the market.” Obviously some areas of the country have more backlog than others, but with an already glutted market, imagine what would happen to real estate if those 600,000 foreclosed properties flooded the market further.    

•    October 2009, CNN Money.com stated in an article, “Despite concerted government-led and lender-supported efforts to prevent foreclosures, the number of filings hit a record high in the third quarter, according to a report issued Thursday.” According to the report, one in every 136 homes – a staggering 937,840 homes - were in foreclosure.

•    Financial institutions know that the foreclosures could cause a severe drop in the average price of housing. Should prices fall farther, faster, lenders would not be able to recoup their losses.

•    Some may be holding a few properties back for a “rainy day” – for when the prices start to rise again.

Even though lending institutions are holding back on some of their inventory of Southern New Hampshire foreclosures, there are still some great deals to be found.

If you’d like to find a great deal on a foreclosed home, I can help.  Call me at 603-821-1134 or email me at dave@daveheeter.com for more information.