25 Jun More REO Homes To Come

As the country waits for a strong housing recovery that many predict will come in the 4th quarter of the year, there are some less optimistic reports.

Tracking the number of REO homes in America is a difficult task for anyone. Because of this, it’s hard for us to gain a clear perspective of the current condition of the housing market. As time passes more distressed properties are coming to market. It’s the shadow market everyone was worrying about earlier this year.

Housing economists across the country are having problems calculating the true number of REO homes. A WSJ.com article reports that while two leading economists are close with their predictions, neither one considers their findings sound. One thing that they do agree on is that the number of REO homes will increase in the coming quarters of the year.

In addition to these mystery numbers we must remember that struggling borrowers out there are at risk of losing their homes every month. According to the WSJ.com article 14% of mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit homes were delinquent or in the process of foreclosure. This represents 7.3 million households nationwide.

I wouldn’t expect an accurate estimate of the number of REO homes in our country anytime soon. Experts think that those looking for answers could be searching for the next two years. Let’s just hope a recovering economy can take the focus off of REO homes and on to a positive recovery.