There was an article in USA Today this past week titled, Foreclosures May Have Crested." Understandably, this caught my eye.
While most of us in the housing business hope that prices are at the bottom (where they will likely stay for the next year or two), we have been riding a wave of uncertainty in regard to foreclosures.
Predictions were that there would be as many (nationwide) foreclosures this year as there were last year, and that isn't good news for recovery and prices (not to mention the people undergoing the horror of losing their homes).
So this article, which you can read HERE, is a glimmer of hope on the housing market horizon. Maybe instead of that light being a setting sun it is now a rising sun!
Not only is it good news that fewer people will be losing their homes, it is good for neighborhoods, the economy and the housing market.
A foreclosed home on your street never does anything to increase values. Often they sit neglected for months as the foreclosure process takes place, and rarely after that do the banks do anything to maintain or improve them. Ultimately, these sad properties sell below "market value," but at the same time they are lowering the market value for the whole neighborhood. Having fewer foreclosed homes will strengthen neighborhoods and help maintain values.
Of course the economy and the housing market go hand in hand, and it is often difficult to know which is leading (or dragging) the other. Fewer foreclosed homes will eventually mean fewer homes on the market and a faster inventory absorption rate. All good for the market.
So let's hope that truly, foreclosures may have crested in Asheville and nationwide.
Margaret Vestal
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