In June, 2011, Ben Bernanke said at a live press conference:
“We have told the banks to handle their REOs…..long pause………..in an economy-supportive way.”
Banks took that as permission to stop foreclosing, and that, combined with the California Homeowners Bill of Rights, have caused foreclosures – as we once knew them – to dry up. All three of the big North County REO brokers have all given up and left the business, and the occasional bank-owned listing that does hit the market is priced at retail, or retail-plus.
Here are the NSDCC detached-home listings that were bank-owned (REO) or short sales:
| Year | ||
| 2010 | ||
| 2011 | ||
| 2012 | ||
| 2013 | ||
| 2014 | ||
| 2015 |
Instead of foreclosing, the banks have thrown a loan modification to anyone who would sign it, and when those expire, extensions will likely be granted. Distressed sales have gone the way of the dodo bird!
Those 45 sales last year were 1.5% of the 3,018 total sales, and with higher prices, the count is likely to go down. We will be in a retail-priced environment for the foreseeable future!
