Lenders Putting Few Foreclosed On The Homes Market
Thousands of homes in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties remain stuck in the foreclosure process as lenders continue to offer relatively few foreclosed homes for sale, according to a report released Tuesday.
Prepared by ForeclosureRadar, a Discovery Bay real estate research company, the August report suggests that the banks are either swamped or they’re controlling foreclosure sales to avoid flooding the market, experts said.
The time banks took to foreclose on a home after sending out the initial notice of default increased slightly from July in Santa Clara County, but was up 51 percent from a year ago. The number of foreclosure sales in both counties was small, compared with the thousands of homes that are stuck in the foreclosure process.
“They’re definitely trickling them out,” said Don Orason of Intero’s Almaden office. Two or three years ago, when East San Jose was spiraling downward in the housing bubble’s burst, the market was flooded with foreclosures, he said. But that has changed, he said, with far fewer reaching the market each week.
Sales of foreclosed homes also have sagged since July, he said. “If something’s priced right, it still sells, but on the average, you’re seeing these homes take a little bit longer to sell,” he said.
