A Medley Of Foreclosure Woes

June 30th, 2008

A medley of foreclosure woes is now grabbing the headlines.

Hope Now is an alliance of mortgage houses. It has come up with a set of uniform lender guidelines with the sole objective of helping foreclosure victims to stay in the houses that are their homes. It opens up communication lines between the two parties and sees to the various alternative available – even going so far as to persuade banks to forgive generous chunks of the loan. Hope Now was launched last year with the backing of the Bush administration but so far it has not been as effective as expected.

Life may begin to ease for New York foreclosed victims as a result of the new steps being outlined by Hope Now. It may not be the ultimate answer but it will surely help many and give them a breathing space to sort out financial difficulties, opined Jonathan Kempner of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The second weekend of June saw record tumbles in the real estate markets in the history of the nation. Sales have slowed down to extreme low points in top 25 markets. Hitherto these 25 had held the first positions. Tight mortgage practices and increasing foreclosures have joined hands to ultimately tell on the health of the market. Many markets have gone down by 50% since the boom period. Housing Predictor foretells the future of more than 250 real estate markets across 50 states of US. The analysis is independent and unbiased being based on market conditions. The top zones are dotted all over the country with Utah, Mississippi, Texas, New York, Oklahoma, Idaho and North Dakota leading.

Foreclosures are now scraping the walls of New York Skyscrapers. Jumbo business bodies own many of these. Like the rest of the nation the owners made investments during the housing boom and some of them have become wobbly. The result is that these tall giants are being resold to new investors – either foreign or local. Chrysler and Flatiron skyscrapers may soon end up in the hands of Arabs or Europeans as the weak dollar spurs on property grabbing. The 50 storey General Motors Building has already been sold for 2.8 billion dollars to a firm in Boston that has the backing of investors hailing from Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar. This is the most expensive skyscraper in the country. It indicates to what heights the foreclosure related property crisis has reached in America.

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