The market report for June 2010 is now published on John’s website. Here in Western WA we are at least having a better year in home sales than we did last year. Each month for the last few months the sales have been better than the sales were for the same time last year. We are still far below the number of sales back in 2006.
The interesting thing about this market report is that it includes the % of bank owned homes are part of our sales. John has been doing these market reports for a ocuple of years now so you can look back and see our history. Those of you who are really into data will have fun with this.
In our office of Shelton Land & Homes, LLC we are certainly not as busy as we would like to be, and we continue to approach the business of real estate with an increased creativity. We do everything we can think of to market our listings, for example, using radio ads as well as the Internet. We also know of many people who would like to put their homes on the market, but are holding back because the buyers are not buying. From what we can observe the banks make getting loans such a trial these days that buyers get discouraged.
Our office has taken the training to be able to offer First Time Home Buyers classes for the Washington State Housing Finance Commission for Down Payment Assistance. This program is something we are happy that our state provides.
On another note, I keep asking this same question of people trying to get to an answer. My suspicion is that it is more profitable somehow for banks to foreclose on a home and then sell it for less than what the former owner owed on it, than it is to work with a home owner by lowering interest rates or forgiving part of the debt (to the same price the bank would be selling it for after foreclosure). Does a bank make a better profit by foreclosing on a home? Is there some kind of tax break? Because it does not make any common sense to foreclose on a home and sell it for less than the former owner owes on it, rather than work with the home owner and prevent the foreclosure. It takes a lot of work and hours to go through the foreclosure process.
Of course I hear over and over again that our country has given up on common sense, and we don’t have it any more. This situation sure seems to prove that belief.
Tags: bank owned homes, first time home buyers classes, foreclosure, market report june 2010
