Foreclosure stats underreported in 2006
Nearly everyone is becoming more concerned about the sub-prime lending mess and the subsequent home foreclosures. Now, a recent analysis shows that Real Estate foreclosure stats were actually dramatically underreported in 2006.
According to the ECM Post Review:
More than 60 community leaders from outstate Minnesota gathered in Saint Cloud to hear the results of a new study documenting that foreclosures in Minnesota are occurring at twice the rate previously being reported to Congress and other policymakers. The summit was convened by Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, a statewide non-profit affordable housing organization.
“This newest study reveals what was an invisible epidemic of foreclosures in Greater Minnesota,” said Warren Hanson, president of Greater Minnesota Housing Fund. “We now see that the foreclosure crisis extends to every corner of the state and hurts both families and neighboring property owners,” said Hanson.
The new study quantified for the first time the number of actual sheriffs’ sales of foreclosed properties county by county in Minnesota in 2006. It found a stunning 11,207 foreclosures statewide – nearly double the 5,995 reported in a national study conducted by RealtyTrac, a leading provider of real estate industry data, over the same period.
What if the foreclosure reports for 2006 are substantially off not just for MN but for the entire country? What does that say about the reporting systems in place currently? And, doesn’t this situation make the lender mess look even worse?
Bad news all around… Unless, of course you’re a Real Estate investor in a strong buying position. Appraisers, Brokers, Banks, the Fed and homeowners themselves drove the Real Estate bubble. As it pops, there’s many great opportunities to profit from their excesses.