The Port St. Lucie Community Services Department together with Don Cooper, the City Manager is going to meet to decide upon as to how the $13.5 million fund of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development will be used. The officials of the city are expecting to put an end to the problem of foreclosure by buying, selling, and fixing the abandoned homes. Cooper has put forward a proposal before the director of the Community Services Department Tricia Swift-Pollard that about $9 million-$10 million of the fund can be used to make a purchase of the vacant real estate properties.

Apart from that, $3.5 million can be made use of to rehabilitate those properties. The remaining cash can be used for meeting various administrative costs. Cooper has said that the banks should roll up properties and give them to the city for possession. This has to be done at a discounted price from the appraised value. The proposals that would provide the most properties will be bought by the city. An evaluation will be carried out by the building department. Those properties that will be found in a poor condition will be destructed. The remaining ones are going to be rehabbed.

Cooper aims at removing as many as properties possible from the real estate and return them back to the single-family owners. He does not look forward to make the city go into a land speculation or rental business. The fund is given for a period of 5 years for investment. This implies that the money generated from rehabilitation or sales will get back into the process. As soon as that phase gets over, the amount will return back to the US Department of Treasury. According to the instructions, the fund is not allowed to be used for any sort of rental or buying affair. This fund may have the capability to cover the maintenance costs. The city will be held responsible for the properties bought.

Port St. Lucie has been reported to have a rate of foreclosure that is the fifth highest in the Florida community. Over 11 percent of the properties went into foreclosure activity a year back and also during the first quarter of 2008. Port St. Lucie happens to be the sole Treasure Coast area that will be given funds under the 2008 federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act. Port St. Lucie has to submit its plan on the usage of the fund by December 1.

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A rescue plan for foreclosure that is worth $20 million has taken some shape in Pasco County. This has made the commissioners of this county put forward that proper steps have to be taken to deal with this real estate crisis situation in Pasco County. The increasing rate of foreclosure nationwide has put the real estate everywhere into severe problem. The West Pasco Board of Realtors president Greg Armstrong has addressed to over 50 agents and agents and said, “We must act swiftly to turn the tide,” He has also said that Pasco County shows a foreclosure filing of nearly 100 every week.

The real estate experts have decided to come forward and put their strong efforts to deal with the problem. They think that something has to be done to assist the distressed homebuyers to get out of this crisis situation. They have decided to use a major portion of the federal funds for helping them out. Armstrong said, “We are in extraordinary times and it calls for extraordinary thinking,” The problem of foreclosures has also brought down the prices of homes. This has been beneficial for the first time buyers who could now buy homes at a price much below the prevailing market value.

George Romagnoli, the community development manager of Pasco County said that the original concept was to use major part of the federal fund after the county by making a direct purchase of nearly 182 properties that have been foreclosed and are in a tremendously bad condition. Just like the real estate experts, Commissioner Michael Cox agrees upon the fact that a homebuyer aid program will help a large number of residents of Pasco County than it would have been if the county bought simply the properties that have been foreclosed.

This county has been able to qualify for the 17th biggest amount under the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Plan. It is supposed to get a share of $19,495,805 that is much more than that of the combined amount allotted to Boston, San Diego, Nashville, and New Orleans. Public hearings are going to take place in the next month. Pasco County has to make a submission of its plan by December 1 to the HUD. It is expected to get its share of funds by December end.

John Gallagher, County Administrator said that the plans will aid in preventing a second session of subprime loans to the buyers who have defaulted on their payments and are facing foreclosure now. This will in turn also prevent history from making a repeat.

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It has been found that the number of foreclosure in Brevard County has soared to 850 in the month of September. This has been reported by Scott Ellis, the Brevard County Clerk of Courts. This has a really bad effect on the economy hitting hard the real estate of the region at the same time. In the month of August the number of mortgage foreclosure filings stood at 744. Ellis has said that the closedown of the offices of the Brevard County for 3 days in the month of August from Tropical Storm Fay have reduced the number of foreclosure filings for that month and led to an increase in the number of foreclosure filings in September.

It was recorded that in the month of June, Brevard County had a total number of 848 foreclosure filings. This dropped to 826 in the very next month. However, the number of foreclosure filings has crossed the previous records in the month of September. Last year, the total number of foreclosure from January to September stood at 5,153. This figure from January to September this year has increased to 7,014. This is something very huge and alarming. This has put the real estate industry of the county into a big trouble.

There are some filings that really do not end up into foreclosure. The buyer and the lender can chalk out a deal like the short sales. However in other cases, the tenant or the homebuyer has the option to move out before the actual foreclosure action starts. The homeowners are finding it very tough to do away with the problem. As the number of foreclosure filings has gone up, office of Ellis has doubled the number of foreclosure auctions from two to four per month. He has said that at times the deals are chalked out minutes before the auction.

Ellis has further said that nearly 85 properties out of 100 properties that are designated for a foreclosure auction are blocked at the last moment. The current economic downturn has left the real estate people into a great desperation. If this downtrend continues, then there will be more of foreclosures in the near future. Proper steps are needed to be taken immediately to fight away the problem of foreclosure in the Brevard County. If people could be made more aware of the problem, then there will be surely some ray of hope in the coming days.

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Collier County has been reported with a high rate of foreclosure in the month of September. It was 674 in August, which rose to 751 in September. The highest was recorded in the month of June when the number of foreclosure filings stood at 716. However, a further increase in the month of September has put the real estate of the county in serious problem. The number of foreclosure filing in Lee County went up to 2,447 in September from its June record of 2,518. The number of foreclosure filing went down to 2,155 in this county in the month of August. It was expected to drop further.

Wendy McCabe, a civil supervisor for the clerk office of Collier County said, “We did hear some of the balloon payments are coming due again. But we can’t tell from the filings,” With the strict adjustable rate mortgages, the people in Southwest Florida are loosing their jobs. They are unable to make their monthly payments for their real estate property. The percentage of unemployed people in the Collier County went to 8.4 percent in August which was 9 percent in the Lee County.

According to the US Labor Department, the scenario nationwide is also not good. There has been an increase in the number of new applications for unemployment benefits. This is mainly due to the slump economy and the destruction caused by Ike and Gustav Hurricanes. The small business entrepreneurs in Southwest Florida are facing the brunt due to the cringe in credit. The condition is also bad for the big firms.

Russ Weyer, a senior associate of Fishkind & Associates has said, “Our unemployment rate is higher now. That is causing the increase (in foreclosure filings), as well as the continuation of the subprime market,” People have been asked to look out for their own ways till the time the revenue market becomes fine. The foreclosure sales are still going up despite the increase in the number of foreclosure filings. People are showing their interest in short sales and foreclosure sales.

It is not clear to Phil Wood, a real estate expert, that how the $700 billion relief program is going to aid the distressed homeowners in their mortgage payments. Charlie Green, Lee County Clerk of Courts, has said that if the number of people becoming unemployed begins to rise then there will be a further surge in the number of foreclosures.

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The commissioners of Hernando County have created a task force so that this county receives its part of the $3.92 billion federal fund. This fund granted by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has been given to different states and their local governments and communities so that they can fight with the problem of foreclosure. The fund for Hernando County will help it to bring stability in the real estate market thereby creating job opportunities as well as get away with the foreclosure crisis. Recently the Congress has passed the 2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act for bringing reformation in mortgage.

Hernando County has the highest rate of foreclosures in Florida. It ranks 10th among all the counties of Florida in its number of foreclosure filings. It has been recorded by the clerk of the Court’s Office that from January to September, about 2,402 properties has been foreclosed in Hernando County. Chris Kingsley, commissioner of Hernando County is hoping that the rehabilitation of properties will prompt the subcontractors and the real estate people to get back to their work. This will help in boosting up the economy.

Kingsley has said, “This is our best option so far,” The fund can be used by both the local and the state government to purchase land and properties. Apart from that, it can also be used to rehabilitate the properties that are vacant. The low and moderate income buyers can use this money to make their down payments and closing costs. A letter has been very recently sent by the commissioners of Hernando County to the lawmakers of the state whereby they have put forward the kind of urgency that the county’s real estate is going through.

Florida is waiting eagerly to know about the amount of share that it is going to get to fight with foreclosure. State Rep. Rob Schenck has expressed a mixed feeling and said, “Philosophically, I don’t know if it’s the best thing to have government buying houses. I very much believe the economy as a whole and our lives are better off with less government.” He has further said, “At the same time, that’s certainly a decision that lies with the county commissioners. I will certainly make sure Hernando County is given the opportunity to receive its portion of Florida’s allotment.”

Steve Preston, Secretary of the US Housing and Urban Development, has said that their intention is to use the fund in a very effective way so that it can meet the highest need.

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According to the latest study of the AARP Public Policy Institute on housing and real estate, the older section of the Americans is probably more prone to foreclosure. It has been found through a study that nearly 684,000 of the people of America at an age of 50 and above were facing foreclosure on their home over the six months duration ending in the month of December. Many of them have defaulted in making their mortgage payments. This is in fact big news to the older section of the Americans. The problem of foreclosure has inflated the prices of gas, food, and energy. People are finding it difficult to cope with the increasing prices leading to foreclosure on their homes.

The older American section is heavily dependant on their property not only for accommodation but also as an asset after retirement. It is possible for a young homeowner to somehow manage and make the mortgage payment. However, this is almost impossible for a person who is at his 50s and about to retire soon. The rate of foreclosure for people above 50 by the close of 2007 stood at 0.24%. The rate of foreclosures for people of all ages however stood at 0.39%. The study of the AARP Public Policy Institute is based on the survey of 2.5 million mortgage holders that included about one million of those above 50 years.

The older section of the Americans is finding it really troublesome to get away with the problem of foreclosure. Some new programs are needed to be introduced to save them from the problem of home foreclosures. AARP found that both Hispanic and African-American borrowers of mortgage, at this age, have a rate of foreclosure that is higher than that of the white borrowers. Also, those people with subprime first mortgages are very likely to get affected by foreclosure than those who have taken prime loans while buying their home.

According to Susan Reinhard, who is the director of AARP’s Public Policy Institute, there is a perception among the people that the older section of the Americans has financial security in their homes. However, the fact is that although some of them are secured, but still there are a large number of them who are not. They are running through a future that is very uncertain. They have the fear that the home that they own today might not exist tomorrow.

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Lee County real estate market is submerged in open foreclosure cases of over 22,000. This county has to send surplus dollars to the state from the fees to work on foreclosure homes. Charlie Green, Clerk of Courts is already prepared to hold back about $200,000 to $300,000 from court fees and foreclosure to make a clearing on the backlogs rather than pay the state revenue. Apart from foreclosure, this money is obtained from fees of civil and criminal lawsuits, probate, divorces, and a part of traffic fines. Green has said:

“If we can do it and there is no other way, then I have no choice but to withhold funds to get these cases adjudicated”

The office of the county clerk keeps the amount for meeting its various requirements and sends the rest as surplus dollars to the state. It has been found that the tally from this county is as large as $18.3 million over the past 3 years. Out of this, about $6 million comes from foreclosure fees. The surplus money that the state takes is divided among its 69 counties to aid them in running their courts. Even there are some counties that get a higher share as they are small and therefore are unable to cover up their expenses.

Green saw a 1,769 percent hike in the number of foreclosures over the past 2 years. Over the past three years, the number of foreclosures cases has increased from 1,606 in 2005-2006 to about 22,243 in 2007-2008. Linda Doggett who is the director of county courts department said, “We have been the largest donor county in terms of how much money we give the state,” Out of the total number of 32,983 foreclosure homes that have been filed over the past three years, only 35 percent or so have been litigated.

It cannot be said what exactly the repercussions will be if Greens goes for holding back the money. According to the spokeswoman for the state Department of Revenue Renee Watter, the surplus fees of the county are due by the end of December to the state. Other than the real estate, the problem of foreclosure homes is also having bad effects on other county services. It has led to deterioration in property. Besides, there lingers a fear of uncertainty among the people.

Green has also gone to the Lee County Board of Commissioners to explain the problem before them. He said:

“I wanted the board to be aware this is not a court problem. This is a county problem. People need to see we’re not sitting on our thumbs. It’s like pushing a boulder up a hill with your nose. It hurts. It’s tiring.”

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A ray of hope seems to be there for the real estate market of US. Although the rate of foreclosure homes have gone up in the month of August, but there is an indication of stabilization in the US housing market. The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout by the government is supposedly going to strengthen the value of homes. It has been observed that about 656,545 properties or 8.6 of every 1,000 homes in US have been repossessed by the lenders since January, 2008. In the month of August, nearly 102,000 homeowners have fallen into a foreclosure situation. This is almost an increase of 6.0% from the figure in July and 80.0% as compared to the previous year.

It is assumed that nearly 1 million properties will be taken over by the lenders by the end of 2008. About 1.45 million homeowners have confronted with a pre-foreclosure action on their home by the lenders since the beginning of 2008. This is quite alarming as it is almost twice the figure of 2007. Since July this year, the pre-foreclosure activity has somewhat slowed down. However, over half of the pre-foreclosure and lender repossession has taken place in Florida, Arizona, and California. These three states together with Nevada have been heavily hit by the real estate mortgage crisis of US.

Mortgage Bankers Association has reported that nearly 9.0% of the homeowners in US with mortgages were either in a foreclosure situation or behind in their payments at the close of the second quarter. It has been said that California and Florida has been the driving force behind this increasing numbers. The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is expected to have a positive effect. It is hoped that there will be a drop in the borrowing costs. This will provide a support to the secondary market’s demand for mortgage-backed securities and will be a source of money for the lenders.

A decrease in the borrowing costs will make it feasible for the buyers to buy an already-foreclosed home. There has been a major fall in the employment level that has made several economists to assume that there will be further foreclosure problems. According to the Labor Department, a loss of about 84,000 jobs has taken place for nonfarm payrolls in the month of August. The rate of unemployment has rose from 5.7% to 6.1% in August.

The Northeast and Midwest have faced much lesser foreclosures and pre-foreclosures this year as compared to 2007. The Southeast region has the highest number of pre-foreclosure activity going on, with 477,177 or 27.5 filings per 1,000 homes. On the other hand the Southwest region has the highest number of foreclosure activities, with 348,019, or 12.7 filings per 1,000 homes.

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The problem of foreclosed homes although has hit terribly the real estate in the second half, but there is also an improvement that is being noticed in the number of borrowers who were falling badly in their mortgage payments. It has been seen that there has been a decrease in their numbers for the first time over the last two years or so. The default rates for the subprime loans have decreased according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. However, the number of prime loans defaulters is still on rise. The prime loans were those which were granted without looking into the credit history of the borrower.

At the end of the month of June, nearly 1.75 million mortgages or 2.75 percent of the home loans were in a state of foreclosure. This is an increase of 2.47 percent from March. This happens to be the highest foreclosure rate since the year of 1979. The real estate market is envisioned by the experts to face a further downward movement due to the increasing rate of unemployment resulting out of foreclosures. The rate of foreclosed homes was the highest in Michigan, California, Ohio, Florida, and Nevada. The total number of loans that were due by less than 3 months dropped from 4.72 percent to 4.58 percent.

The rate of unemployment has soared from 5.7 percent in July to 6.1 percent in August according to the report of the Labor Department. The job scenario seems to be at real stake. Several families were able to pay off their bills due to the $100 billion in federal tax rebates. Some others were able to deal with their loans due to the modifications made on it. Celia Chen, a real estate expert has said:

“The data over all still suggests that mortgage quality is weak, and I would expect that there will be further weakening and foreclosures that occur before the housing market improves”

About 5.35 percent of prime loans at June end were past due, which shows an increase of 4.93 percent from March. On the other hand, about 30.48 percent of subprime loans were past due, which indicates an increase of 29.53 percent. There is a huge concern with the defaulters of prime loans. The number of defaulters on this loan is expected to go further high by the real estate experts. This is because several borrowers with various creative loans like interest-only loans might fail to make interest payments as and when their favorable introductory terms come to an end.

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The value of homes in Miami that was high in the last 21 years has started to decline significantly due to foreclosures. The previously owned single-family homes of the area, over the last year, have declined by 28.3 percent. Miami stands second to Las Vegas in this matter whose real estate home prices fell by 28.6 percent. This decline has been mainly due to the banks that are trying to unload the distressed properties. The real estate in Florida has been asking for a price for home that is below the price that is due on mortgage. This is termed as “short sales” by them.

A newly built home near the University of Miami that cost $979,000 two years back is now $599,000. About 20 percent of the 47,000 condominiums and 24 percent of the 34,000 single-family homes for sale in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties were put up for short sales. This has created a competition among the homeowners in the South Miami neighborhood. Alexandra Swanberg made a reduction from $287,000 to $245,000 on her property in 2007. Several buyers are eagerly waiting for further decline in the price of homes.

According to Andrea Heuson, a professor of finance at the University of Miami,

“The ‘rent vs. buy decision’ is something you used to see in old real estate textbooks; the new ones don’t even have it in there because for so long it was obvious that you should buy, not rent,”.

Pasquale Pisana, a homeowner, bought a home for $285,000 at downtown Miami last year. He had plans to relocate here after selling his old home for $349,000. But surprisingly he could not get buyers and now has put up the new condo on rent at a discount. The foreclosure problem has proved heavily bad for the homeowners but very effective for the first time buyers.

Sellers who thought that they could sell their properties at great prices after some years are at real stake. The ever increasing prices of homes have made the current time a hard to believe thing for them. Once, these sellers have refused to sell their homes at a price that was below their expectations. But today they regret as they are unable to get even a single buyer for their home. According to some recent data, the sales volume seems to have somewhat stabilized statewide after several months of decline. But the problem will be totally gone only when foreclosure fades away.

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