How To Buy A Foreclosure

A raging debate has been taking place concerning the health of real estate, and how long it will take to absorb the excess supply. Here is a probable scenario (data thanks to Century Management):

In September 2010, there were 3,585,000 homes listed for sale. At the current average rate of 350,000 homes being sold per month (annualized, seasonally adjusted, as of September 2010), it will take about 10 months to go through the inventory currently on the market.

The historically normal inventory is 4.5 months. That means we now have 5.5 months of excess inventory that needs to be sold in order to return to a normal real estate market. That’s roughly two million units. So if no new inventory is added, and with an average of 350,000 homes sold per month, it would take 5.5 months to absorb this inventory.

However, that calculation leaves out the “shadow inventory”. According to CoreLogic®, 3,776,420 out of the 47,802,783 outstanding mortgages are in default (REO plus 90 days past due), or 7.9% of the total.

Assuming that 50% of that shadow inventory gets foreclosed and these homes enter the
market (the foreclosing banks will be willing sellers), and assuming the default rates continue at this level for the next four years, it would take less than two years to absorb it all:

3,776,420x 50%= 1,888,210
1,888,210 : 350,000 monthly sales= 5.4 months
5.4×4= 21.6 months

Less than six months to work off excess inventory, plus 21 months if you include shadow inventory, comes to a little more than two years, and puts us in 2013. That does not seem so bad.

What’s more, the market corroborates this assessment. It is not a coincidence that many housing related stocks are moving higher recently: Sherwin Williams (paints), Pier 1 Imports and Williams Sonoma (home furnishing), Black & Decker (tools) Home Depot and Lowe’s (home improvement), among others.

Stocks are forward looking, and these stocks are going higher because the customers are back. People wouldn’t be spending money on their homes if their values weren’t going higher, and that sentiment is the beginning of good news for real estate nation-wide.

Alan Schram is the Managing Partner of Wellcap Partners, a Los Angeles based investment firm. Email at aschram@wellcappartners.com.

For Sale: Cameron’s House From Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

The glassy midcentury house where Cameron Frye had one of film’s greatest conniptions in the greatest playing-hooky story of our time, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, is now on the market for $1.65 million.

Designer by architects A. James Speyer and David Haid in 1953, the cantilevered steel-and-glass property offers 5,300 square feet of living space and floor-to-ceiling windows throughout. Word of advice? Make like Cameron quick—”I am not going to sit on my ass as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life”—and scoop this one up fast before Rooney gets word of your mischief-doing.

Click image to expand

Republished with permission from Curbed.com. Authored by Sarah Firshein. Photo via Curbed.com and HuffingtonPost.com.

How To Buy A Foreclosure

The way investing works is that most of your success will result from answering the most critical questions correctly. As a gold investor, the most important question for me to answer is whether or not gold is a bubble. The accurate response to this question will determine whether I have 100% gains, or 50% losses.  As you can see, this is not a question I want to take lightly.

All bubbles are not created equal- some bubbles are of the more mundane type,  such as the bubble in home shopping stocks in the 1980’s, and some are of the truly epic kind. The bubbles with the most profound effects on society are centered around one of the major asset classes (stocks, real estate, bonds, commodities).  Bubbles in real estate wipe out latent capital on a large scale. Bubbles in bonds wipe out capital accumulation, period. Bubbles in gold, as you will see, come at the end of significant shifts in society.

Soros has called gold “the ultimate bubble.” In many ways, he is absolutely correct. Gold rises and falls in accordance with public confidence. If and when gold achieves its spike move, it will be because people have lost confidence on a global scale. When people panic, they don’t do it in an orderly fashion.

Real Estate

Real estate is an asset that is misunderstood because people as a whole don’t understand the nature of inflation and leverage. There are two critical points to understand about real estate: 1) it is probably the best inflation hedge of all the asset classes, and 2) its value is derived in large part by leverage. Since real estate is a plain old inflation hedge, its rise follows a pretty steady trajectory. Another way of looking at real estate is to say there needs to be an outside catalyst (leverage) to bring housing out of trend. It was only when people put no money down (unlimited leverage) on their homes that real estate in the U.S. really took off. Leverage is everything in real estate. 

At the tail end of the real estate bubble, home values in the U.S. rose nearly 100% when historical precedent suggested a rise of 10%. For real estate, this is a huge move; for stocks, not so huge. Remember, each asset class is different.

Stocks

Stocks are inflation hedges to an extent since companies will react relatively quickly to real inflationary pressures in the economy. If the cost of raw materials is rising, so will prices on the end goods companies sell. Most companies have a pretty narrow range in which they can sell their products; any price just a little too high or a little too low can prove to be devastating.

This natural inflation-adjusting mechanism that companies have is counterracted by the nature of the stock market itself. While price and value will tend to converge over time, in the short run, there can be huge discrepencies. One of the reasons stocks are more volatile than real estate is that the average holding period for stocks is not measured in years; in fact, it is often measure in minutes. Humans will always behave irrationally and turn legitimate stock movements based on improving fundamentals into bubbles.

Gold

Gold is not the inflation hedge most people think it is. Here is a data point that will give you some perspective. In 1869, gold traded at $162; in 1969, it traded at $35. How gold hedged inflation in any way over this period of a century is lost on me. It is a fact that stocks and real estate more closely tracked the rate of inflation.

Price movements in gold resemble price movements in stocks. Intense bear markets are followed by spectacular bull markets, which culminate in a spike move fueled by human emotion. The same 100% moves in real estate that would signal a bubble of massive proportions are normal moves in gold. While the price movement of gold in absolute terms is important, the price movement of gold expressed in relation to time is even more important. A 100% rise in 5 years means nothing, although a 100% move in 2 months means everything. Everyone invested in gold should be more focused on time.

Each asset class moves to its own rhythm. To say that gold is a bubble merely because it has risen 6x is just plain ignorant. Gold has always shown that it is an asset that lies dormant for decades, only to experience the biggest moves in the shortest amount of time. There is no reason for me to believe that “this time is different.” Gold has yet to do anything but trend upwards in a classic bull market formation. If and when the trajectory of the rise steepens, that will be the time to start thinking about getting out.

Expected Returns is a blog focused on gold investing.

Is Lindsay Lohan Real-Estate-Stalking Her Ex?

So, that new house Lindsay Lohan is moving into? It’s next door to ex-girlfriend and drink-throwing victim Samantha Ronson, who is “disgusted” and “pissed.” How close can you move to your ex-girlfriend’s house before you become a real estate stalker?

Depending how big the yards are, “next door” is almost always too close, especially if your relationship was as tumultuous as LiLo and SamRo’s was. But what about down the street? Context matters: If you lived next door when you started dating, and then move two houses over when you’re apart, you’re still really close, but neither of you can really lay claim to the territory, right? There must be some kind of formula for this. How about…

• WHERE D1 = Distance between homes when dating
• AND D2 = Distance between new homes
• AND D1 AND D2 are in the same metropolitan region,

• IF (D1) / 2 > D2
• THEN you are not creepy.

Unless you’re one of those people who has preternaturally positive relationships with their exes, I suppose. Anyway, this doesn’t solve Lindsay’s problem, but at least Sam’s ostentatiously bad mood is justified: “When photographers asked the DJ if she had any New Year’s resolutions, she replied simply, ‘No. I’m too pissed off right now.’” [Us, image via Pacific Coast News]

Update: Here are some interior pics of Lohan’s new digs, via The Realestalker:

Send an email to Maureen O’Connor, the author of this post, at maureen@gawker.com.

realtor letter

It’s become one of the well-known quirks of Helena Bonham-Carter and Tim Burton’s coupledom that they have two “separate” houses. Apparently, Helena had a small home in London, and when she and Tim got together, he bought the property next to hers, and they joined them together with some kind of corridor or walk-way. That’s not all - apparently, they don’t sleep in the same room either. Because Tim snores, and he won’t get an operation for his deviated septum. While it doesn’t sound like a fairy-tale union, it probably works very well for them. Anyway, in a new interview, Helena talks about their relationship, and the misinformation about her union with Tim:

With their own separate houses next door to each other, the living arrangements of Helena Bonham Carter and her partner Tim Burton have often raised eyebrows. But the actress has finally revealed the reason for their twin properties – she cannot stand Burton’s snoring at night.

Rather than undergo an operation to his nose which might cure the condition, the pair instead opted for two homes side by side in Belsize Park, north London, to ensure no sleepless nights.

Bonham Carter has insisted there is nothing unusual about the arrangement and that her relationship with the award-winning director is “enhanced” by having their own personal space. The 44-year-old divides her time between the two properties which she shares with Burton, 52, their two children Billy Ray and Nell and a nanny.

In an interview with Radio Times, the Alice In Wonderland star said: “A lot written about me is wrong. They say Tim and I are a mad couple with subterranean tunnels between our adjoining houses, and that our children live down the road with another couple. We just have two houses knocked together because mine was too small. We see as much of each other as any couple, but our relationship is enhanced by knowing we have our personal space to retreat to. It’s not enforced intimacy. It’s chosen, which is quite flattering – if you can afford it.”

She added: “Tim does snore, and that’s an element. We’ve tried lots of remedies that don’t work. He has a deviated septum and doesn’t want an operation.”

The eccentric couple’s private life has been the focus of much speculation after it emerged that they were living in the twin homes, which are accessed by a communal door. Earlier this year, a national newspaper was forced to apologise for describing the domestic set-up as “chilling”.

But although the couple, who met on the set of Planet of the Apes, have been together since 2001, they have no plans to marry.

“We’re told we’re stupid [for inheritance tax reasons], but it’s a habit we’re used to. I worry about death,” said Bonham Carter.

She also claimed that parenting is more of a challenge than acting, adding: “At the moment I’m just being a mum for my children, although there’s no ‘just’ about it. It’s no reflection on them, but working is much more of a doddle. I feel like a production manager when I’m at home – nothing is ever finished.”

[From The Telegraph]

Aw, I think it’s kind of cute. She and Tim are obviously two big personalities, and they’ve found a way to be a family. Even though it’s unconventional, it works for them, and they’ve been together for nearly a decade. Good for them!

HBC did this interview to promote her role as Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mum, mother to the current Queen Elizabeth II) in Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech. Both Helena and Colin Firth are getting huge Oscar buzz for their roles, and many are calling this Colin’s year. It would be interesting to see Helena as a major contender for Best Supporting Actress too - although I tend to think she’s too eccentric to really campaign for it. Maybe I just want to see HBC’s hot mess styles on every red carpet, though. She’s so much fun! Ugh… I can’t wait to see this movie, but it still hasn’t come to my town! Bastards.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Lil’ Kim or did Fergie finally complete her transformation into a full-blown Muppet? - Cityrag

But in more important news, Suri Cruise let Stepford Katie out of the dungeon in those boots? - Lainey Gossip

Country Strong really should’ve been called Cheetos Strong - The Superficial

Personally, I get through mass by getting drunk on communion wine before passing out underneath one of the back pews, but that’s just me - NYC Barstool Sports

My prayers have been answered, because we might get a Mickey Rourke gay fuck scene soon! - Towleroad

If Katie Price, an orange pony and Brit Brit’s old pink wig collided in the basement of a back alley plastic surgeon’s office - Hollywood Tuna

Sinbad still exists (site NSFW) - Drunken Stepfather

Never mind Tim Burton’s snoring, Helena Bonham Carter’s make-up is a thing of artistic beauty - Celebitchy

Emmanuelle Chriqui is dating Luke Perry circa 2008 - Popoholic

Brit Brit’s new song is going to be another poetic masterpiece - Just Jared

A couple that handles balls together, stays together - Popsugar

I highly disagree with #13 - The Berry

That’s offensive to Magda from There’s Something About Mary - ICYDK

Dude in the purple behind Cameron Diaz is saying it all - Moe Jackson

Hugh Hefner got engaged, Holly Madison swallowed an entire Entenmann’s section. Hmm. Do I sense a connection? - I’m Not Obsessed

Gay Fish swam up to the shore to attend the Lakers game with Pimp Mama Kris - Necole Bitchie

If Valentino drops a glove and one of his many servants isn’t there to catch it, did it really fall in the first place? - Hollywood Rag

This just confirms that the end is definitely near - Jezebel

redex

real estate sales letters

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But there is still room for surprise. On Friday night, the blog BrooklynVegan threw a “secret loft show” in Williamsburg. Things being what they are, this secret event had a public Twitter account. The address wasn’t advertised, but all you had to do to uncover it was RSVP. Semi-underground loft shows are nothing new in Brooklyn — this is one, in fact, turned out to be in a waterfront building with a long history of parties — but seeing a band play in someone’s house always has an extra allure. It’s a bit of real estate porn wrapped up with your rock ‘n’ roll.

Especially in this apartment, which doubles as a home base for The Whisk & Ladle,  an underground supper club. Accordingly, there were snacks: chocolate chip cookies, banana bread and ice cream cones, along with the requisite cheap beer (two cans for $5!). Last year the line-up for this show was full of indie pop names that grew, like Local Natives and Love Language. This year the vibe was more plucky-folky, with acts like the Loom and Matt Bauer. The singer-songwriter Dan Mangan, from Vancouver, got a singalong going when he took the stage – a spot under the stairs. O’Death, a stomping Brooklyn band with a shirtless drummer, played last, around 1 a.m, creating punk bluegrass out of ukulele, banjo and fiddle. A neighbor popped a bottle of Champagne and started pouring.

Real Estate Data Exchange

Yahoo is outsourcing yet another product to an outside company. Tonight, Yahoo is announcing an exclusive partnership with real estate listings and search site Zillow. As part of the partnership, which will go into effect later this year, Zillow will power all for-sale listings on Yahoo Real Estate. The financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

Zillow’s will integrate its 4 million for-sale listings on Yahoo’s real estate site, where users will still be able to search for home listings by the same parameters as on Zillow’s site, such as by geography, price and other criteria. For-sale listings placed on Zillow will automatically appear on Yahoo Real Estate.

But the partnership is more than just an outsourcing of listings. Zillow and Yahoo Real Estate will be coordinating sales efforts for the advertising network, so that advertisers who buy Showcase Ads or Featured Listings on either site will automatically have those placed on both Yahoo Real Estate and Zillow. Zillow’s Premier Agent program will be extended to Yahoo Real Estate, and current Zillow advertisers will be offered the first chance to purchase Premier Agent placement on Yahoo.

This deal feels like deja vu of two months ago, when Yahoo announced that it was outsourcing personals to Match.com. Yahoo also outsources job listings to Monster, after it sold HotJobs to the job listing service for $225 million.

Similar to the situation with Match.com a few months ago, Yahoo and Zillow have a history of working together. In 2006, Yahoo Real Estate integrated Zillow’s home valuation technology into its user experience.

But it seems that yahoo isn’t completely handing over the keys to its real estate search to ZIllow. Zillow, which launched as a mortgage marketplace in 2008, also powers rentals, which Yahoo doesn’t appear to be aggregating. For now, at least.

Still, it’s a good deal for Zillow, a startup that survived the real estate market implosion, and seems to be back on its feet. The site has seen record traffic over the past six months and has seen 1.75 million downloads of its mobile apps. In my opinion, it’s only a matter of time until Yahoo just outsources all real estate listings, including rentals, to Zillow.

The Real Results series is supported by Gist, an online service that helps you build stronger relationships. By connecting your inbox to the web, you get business-critical information about key people and companies. See how it works here.

Over the past two years, real estate professionals have found creative ways to overcome the real estate crisis, including finding innovative uses for social media. After facing drops in home sales well into 2010, real estate pros have been forced to utilize their offline skills in an increasingly social way online. By using photo and video sharing to enhance listings, along with professional networking sites to hone their sales skills, real estate veterans have made strides in moving inventory in tough times.

Agents, brokers and realtors have found successes in lead generation, sales and brand building through use of mass audience social platforms, including TwitterTwitter, FacebookFacebook, YouTubeYouTube, FlickrFlickr, Meetup, and LinkedInLinkedIn, as well as real estate specific platforms, like Trulia, Zillow, WellcomeMat and Architizer.

Whether they are sharing videos, listings or advice with their communities and prospective buyers or sellers, real estate pros are making progress in using social media for real results.

Attracting Buyers and Sellers

The core goal of real estate pros utilizing social media is to attract sellers looking to list their homes or buyers looking to purchase homes. Naturally, the 1.0 version of social media for real estate is setting up pages on social networks that fit your company’s content and audience.

Corcoran Group, the largest residential real estate firm in New York City, is a fitting example of how real estate agencies are going above and beyond to make themselves available for buyers and sellers. Corcoran differentiates itself by simply being available and open. The “Do More” tab on their Facebook page says it all — you can find them on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, FoursquareFoursquare, and GowallaGowalla, among other sites. And if you need more, you can download their iPhone app, where you can find nearby homes for sale or rent and open houses. The app also promotes their Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages. If you dig a little deeper, you can also find Corcoran on TumblrTumblr, Blip.tv and VimeoVimeo. Simply put, Corcoran has found a way to be everywhere for its clients. This is the first step to converting fans and followers into buyers and sellers.

preforeclosure software

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Democrat Says Foreclosure Mitigation Helps Good American People, Not Minorities, Defectives   [Stephen Spruiell]

Wow:

We're giving relief to people that I deal with in my office every day now unfortunately. But because of the longevity of this recession, these are people — and they're not minorities and they're not defective and they're not all the things you'd like to insinuate that these programs are about — these are average, good American people.

06/24 02:48 PMShare

From Lender Processing Services: LPS' May Mortgage Monitor Report: Increase in Rate of New Delinquencies; Decline in Number of Delinquent Loans Becoming Current

The May Mortgage Monitor report released today by Lender Processing Services, Inc. … shows a 2.3 percent month-over-month increase in the nation's home loan delinquency rate to 9.2 percent in May 2010, and that early-stage delinquencies are increasing as normal seasonal improvements taper off. This report includes data as of May 31, 2010.

According to the Mortgage Monitor report, the percentage of mortgage loans in default beyond 90 days increased slightly, while both delinquency and foreclosure rates continue to remain relatively stable at historically high levels. There are currently more than 7.3 million loans currently in some stage of delinquency or REO.

The report also shows that the average number of days for a loan to move from 30-days delinquent to foreclosure sale continues to increase, and is now at an all-time high of 449 days, resulting in an increase in “shadow” foreclosure inventory.

LPS shows 9.2% delinquent and another 3.18% in foreclosure for a total of 12.38%. I'm not sure about the days to foreclosure numbers (other sources show fewer), but they have steadily increased. For delinquency rates I usually use the quarterly report from the MBA.

Here is the LPS monthly report. The increase in early stage delinquencies might be seasonal, but it is definitely bad news. And what happens when house prices start falling again later this year as I expect?

For more, from Diana Golobay at HousingWire: National Mortgage Delinquency Rate Swells to 9.2% in May: LPS

And from Diana Olick at CNBC: New Loan Delinquencies on the Rise Again

foreclosure software

An April 14 report by COP found that more than three-quarters of homeowners who have had their monthly mortgage payments reduced under HAMP owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth. Citing data through February, over half of the roughly 170,000 distressed borrowers who had gone through the program were seriously underwater, meaning they had negative equity of at least 25 percent, the report notes. In other words, for every $1.00 their home was worth, they owed at least $1.25.

The average homeowner who's received a five-year modified mortgage under the administration's plan had negative equity of about 35 percent prior to the program, according to the report. After modification, that burden actually increased for the average homeowner, who is now underwater by more than 43 percent.

Durbin asked Geithner about that. Geithner dodged the question. The Treasury Secretary did note, though, that the modifications lead to lower interest rates for borrowers, which results in lower payments. Still, that doesn't address negative equity, which is what Durbin asked about.

Yet the watchdog's report actually understates the problem, the report notes. Its figures are for first-lien home mortgages only. Debt owed on junior liens, like second liens and home equity lines, isn't part of that calculation. The Obama administration estimated last April that “up to 50 percent of at-risk mortgages currently have second liens.”

“If junior liens were to be included, the percentage would be significantly higher,” the report notes. “The continuing deep level of negative equity for many HAMP permanent modification recipients makes the modifications' sustainability questionable; even with more affordable payments, deeply underwater borrowers may remain tempted to strategically default or may be compelled to because core life events, such as death, divorce, disability, marriage, child birth, job loss, or job opportunities necessitate a move.”

Geithner pointed to the roughly 230,000 homeowners who now have lower monthly payments as a result of the program, and the 1.4 million homeowners who have been offered the opportunity to have lower monthly payments.

By comparison, last year lenders foreclosed on more than 2.8 million homes, a record, according to real estate research firm RealtyTrac. The firm estimates three million homes will get foreclosure notices this year; more than one million of them will be repossessed by lenders.

Kevin R. Puvalowski, deputy Special Inspector General in the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, another federal bailout watchdog, said Treasury has fallen short in its promise to help struggling homeowners.

“ntil Treasury fulfills its commitment to provide a thoughtfully designed, consistently administered, and fully transparent program, HAMP risks being remembered not for catalyzing a recovery from our current housing crisis, but rather for bold announcements, modest goals, and meager results,” he told Durbin's subcommittee.

Neiman said that “the stories we hear point to a clear need for a Homeowner's Advocate, or ombudsman, within Treasury. Treasury's currently offered email address is not doing the job.”

Geithner predicted “a lot of hardship and pain still ahead” for homeowners.

“Foreclosure prevention is not just the right thing do for suffering Americans,” Neiman said, “but it is the linchpin around which all other efforts to achieve financial stability revolve. We cannot solve the financial crisis without dealing with the root of the problem: the millions of American families who are at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure.”

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From RealtyTrac: Foreclosure Activity Increases 7 Percent in First Quarter

RealtyTrac® … today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for Q1 2010, which shows that foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 932,234 properties in the first quarter, a 7 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 16 percent increase from the first quarter of 2009. One in every 138 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in March, an increase of nearly 19 percent from the previous month, an increase of nearly 8 percent from March 2009 and the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in January 2005.

“Foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2010 followed a very similar pattern to what we saw in the first quarter of 2009: a shallow trough in January and February followed by a substantial spike in March,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “One difference, however, is that the increases were more tilted toward the final stage of foreclosure, with REOs increasing 9 percent on a quarterly basis in the first quarter of 2010 compared to a 13 percent quarterly decrease in REOs in the first quarter of 2009.

“This subtle shift in the numbers pushed REOs to the highest quarterly total we’ve ever seen in our report and may be further evidence that lenders are starting to make a dent in the backlog of distressed inventory that has built up over the last year as foreclosure prevention programs and processing delays slowed down the normal foreclosure timeline.”

This is the highest monthly total - and highest quarterly total - since RealtyTrac started tracking foreclosures in 2005 (and that probably means this is the highest ever). Note that the initial stage filings (Notice of Default and Lis Pendens depending on the state) were flat with Q1 2009, but that later stage filings (of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale and repossessions) surged:

Foreclosure auctions were scheduled for the first time on a total of 369,491 properties during the quarter, the highest quarterly total for scheduled auctions in the history of the report. Scheduled auctions increased 12 percent from the previous quarter and were up 21 percent from the first quarter of 2009.

Bank repossessions (REOs) also hit a record high for the report in the first quarter, with a total of 257,944 properties repossessed by the lender during the quarter — an increase of 9 percent from the previous quarter and an increase of 35 percent from the first quarter of 2009.

It appears that the banks are starting to clear out the foreclosure backlog.

real estate investment analysis software

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report.

RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday that the number of U.S. homes taken over by banks jumped 35 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. In addition, households facing foreclosure grew 16 percent in the same period and 7 percent from the last three months of 2009.

More homes were taken over by banks and scheduled for a foreclosure sale than in any quarter going back to at least January 2005, when RealtyTrac began reporting the data, the firm said.

“We’re right now on pace to see more than 1 million bank repossessions this year,” said Rick Sharga, a RealtyTrac senior vice president.

Foreclosures began to ease last year as banks came under pressure from the Obama administration to modify home loans for troubled borrowers. In addition, some states enacted foreclosure moratoriums in hopes of giving homeowners behind in payments time to catch up. And in many cases, banks have had trouble coping with how to handle the glut of problem loans.

These factors have helped slow the pace of foreclosures, but now that trend appears to be reversing.

“We’re finally seeing the banks start to process the inventory that has been in foreclosure, but delayed in processing,” Sharga said. “We expect the pace to accelerate as the year goes on.”

In all, more than 900,000 households, or one in every 138 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice, RealtyTrac said. The firm based in Irvine, Calif., tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions.

Homeowners continue to fall behind on payments because they’ve lost their job or seen their mortgage payment rise due to an interest-rate reset. Many are unable to refinance because they now owe more on their loan than their home is worth.

The Obama administration’s $75 billion foreclosure prevention program has only been able to help a small fraction of troubled homeowners.

About 231,000 homeowners have completed loan modifications as part of the Obama administration’s flagship foreclosure prevention program through March. That’s about 21 percent of the 1.2 million borrowers who began the program over the past year.

But another 158,000 homeowners who signed up have dropped out — either because they didn’t make payments or failed to return the necessary documents. That’s up from about 90,000 just a month earlier.

Last month, the administration expanded the program, launching a plan to reduce the amount some troubled borrowers owe on their home loans and give jobless homeowners a temporary break. But the details of those programs are expected to take months to work out.

The states with the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter were Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California, with Nevada leading the pack, RealtyTrac said.

Rising home prices and speculation fueled a wave of home construction there during the housing boom. But now the state, particularly around the Las Vegas metropolitan area, is saddled with a glut of unsold homes.

Still, the number of homes in Nevada that received a foreclosure filing dropped 16 percent from the first quarter last year.

All told, one in every 33 homes in Nevada was facing foreclosure, more than four times the national average, RealtyTrac said.

Foreclosure filings rose on an annual and quarterly basis in Arizona, however.

One in every 49 homes there received a foreclosure-related notice during the quarter.

Florida, meanwhile, posted the third-highest foreclosure rate with one out of every 57 properties receiving a foreclosure filing.

California accounted for the biggest slice overall of homes facing foreclosure — roughly 23 percent of the nation’s total. One in every 62 properties received a foreclosure filing in the first quarter.

The Obama administration's $75 billion foreclosure prevention program has only been able to help a small fraction of troubled homeowners.

About 231,000 homeowners have completed loan modifications as part of the Obama administration's flagship foreclosure prevention program through March. That's about 21 percent of the 1.2 million borrowers who began the program over the past year.

But another 158,000 homeowners who signed up have dropped out – either because they didn't make payments or failed to return the necessary documents. That's up from about 90,000 just a month earlier.

Last month, the administration expanded the program, launching a plan to reduce the amount some troubled borrowers owe on their home loans and give jobless homeowners a temporary break. But the details of those programs are expected to take months to work out.

The states with the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter were Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California, with Nevada leading the pack, RealtyTrac said.

Rising home prices and speculation fueled a wave of home construction there during the housing boom. But now the state, particularly around the Las Vegas metropolitan area, is saddled with a glut of unsold homes.

Still, the number of homes in Nevada that received a foreclosure filing dropped 16 percent from the first quarter last year.

All told, one in every 33 homes in Nevada was facing foreclosure, more than four times the national average, RealtyTrac said.

Foreclosure filings rose on an annual and quarterly basis in Arizona, however.

One in every 49 homes there received a foreclosure-related notice during the quarter.

Florida, meanwhile, posted the third-highest foreclosure rate with one out of every 57 properties receiving a foreclosure filing.

California accounted for the biggest slice overall of homes facing foreclosure – roughly 23 percent of the nation's total. One in every 62 properties received a foreclosure filing in the first quarter.

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In Asia Wednesday, China's Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.3% to 3,148 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.8% to 21,929. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Index inched up 0.1% to 11,293.

Fears that the Chinese government might raise interest this quarter sent real estate shares lower. Poly Real Estate tumbled 2.5%, Gemdale slumped 1.9% and China Vanke fell 1.5%. Even Jiangsu Phoenix Property Investment, which recently restructured its business in a shift away from glass and plastics and into high-yielding property, plunged 2.9% today.

Raw material makers also slid, with Datong Coal Industry falling 1.5%, Yanzhou Coal Mining dipping 1.4% and China Coal Energy losing 1.1%. Iron producer Baoshan Iron & Steel lost 1.7% and Jiangxi Copper dropped 1.1%. Gold miners, however, continued their upward trajectory with Shandong Gold Mining rising 1.5% and Zijin added 0.3%. According to the World Gold Council, Chinese appetite for gold is expected to double over the next decade.

Herbal medicine makers were on the rise with Shandong Dong-E E-Jiao surging 3.7% on first quarter profits. The company makes popular products from donkey skin, such as Shandong Donkey-Skin Glue, which heal blood ailments and apparently have a sweet taste. Yunnan Baiyao Group climbed 3.5% and another traditional medicine company, Guangzhou Parmaceutical, soared 4.7%.

In Hong Kong, commodity producers also headed north with oil company CNOOC rocketing up 6.4% on increasing oil prices. Yesterday oil topped $87 per barrel for the first time in nearly a year and a half. Chalco, or Aluminum Corp. of China, gained 4.1% and China Shenhua, which provides coal-based energy, advanced 4.1%.

In Hong Kong, property companies were still a sure bet with companies doing business in China rising on the exchange. Soho China, which specializes in Japanese home-office environments, spiked up 3.7%, New World Development surged 3.4% and Cheung Kong was up 1.4%. Blue chip Hong Kong property companies also posted gains, with Hang Lung rising 2.5%, Sun Hung Kai gaining 1.8% and Henderson Land advancing 0.5%.

In Japan, banking stocks boosted the Nikkei with Sumitomo Mitsui gaining 4.2% and Mitsubishi UFJ rising 3.3%. Real estate also fared well with Heiwa Real Estate climbing 2.4% and Tokyu Land Corp. up 1.9%.

Japanese railroad companies added to yesterday's gains with West Japan Railway surging 2.5% and Central Japan Railway and East Japan Railway both gaining 1.8%. All good signs that after more than a decade of stagnation, things might actually be looking up in Japan.

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