subject: Foreclosure News In The State Of Florida [print this page] Foreclosure news in Florida reveals that the number of foreclosed properties that are up for sale is still at almost record levels in August 2009. And while the housing market remained in a state of crisis, home prices continued their downward trend and this was evident in the foreclosure listings. More than 62,000 homes began their journey towards foreclosure in the state of Florida during the month of August. For the Sunshine State, this represented a more than 10 percent increase and was the second highest number of foreclosure filings. Initial default notices during this month increased by 12 percent while scheduled auctions rose by 13 percent. Therefore, for home buyers who are seeking very low priced homes, such as real estate investors, foreclosure news in Florida remained encouraging.
An effective way to search for those homes that have been foreclosed by government-backed agencies and banks and are in the market at bargain prices when compared to their market values, are foreclosure news and listings. These houses are either classified as repo homes or government foreclosures. While this is certainly bad news for people losing their homes, it is good news for those who are planning to acquire a home but cannot afford it. And aside from the drastically reduced home prices, the mortgage rates are quite low at about five percent for the fixed mortgages with a 30-year term. Foreclosure news at the moment is good news for home buyers because the values of foreclosed properties have dropped to values that are five to 40 percent lower compared to their actual market values. Therefore, real estate investors have been waiting for such a situation.
However, home sellers may also regard this type of foreclosure news as a positive development because there are many potential buyers who are looking for low-priced homes. However, sellers may have to be contented with a short sale in which the price is less than the outstanding loan balance of the homeowner. For the short sale to work, the lender has to accept the proceeds as payment for the loan balance and forgive the difference. Thus, this kind of foreclosure news may also be positive for the home seller because he can avoid foreclosure after the short sale. Changes in the tax code will now allow him to save on the tax that the IRS would have required him to pay because the amount that has been forgiven by the lender was previous considered by the IRS as income for the seller.
