Lenders took back 38,946 homes, up from 34,997 in April, according to Irvine, California-based data firm RealtyTrac, which tracks notices of default, auction and seizures. Thirty-three states had increases in the number of homes repossessed, RealtyTrac said in a report today.
Banks are more willing to move to the final stage of foreclosure because there is sufficient demand and prices are improving, said Eric Workman of Tinley Park, Illinois-based Mack Cos., which aggregates single-family rental homes and resells them to individuals and institutional investors. U.S. home prices advanced almost 11 percent in the year through March, the biggest 12-month gain since April 2006, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index of values in 20 cities.
“For a very long period of time, the market in general and specifically banks were unsure of what these assets were valued at,” Workman, vice president of sales and marketing at Mack, said in a telephone interview. “With increasing stability of the economy and housing prices throughout the U.S., these banks and sellers are getting much more comfortable with the value of their properties.”
Private-equity firms, hedge funds and individuals are all buying foreclosed or distressed homes to turn into rental properties as prices remain 28 percent below their 2006 peak. Companies including Blackstone Group LP (BX) , which has invested more than $5 billion to buy almost 30,000 homes, and Colony American Homes Inc., which owns more than 12,000 properties, are helping to increase prices in areas hit hard by the real estate crash by draining the market of inventory as low mortgage rates and improving employment fuel demand from buyers.
High Demand
“There are plenty of companies out there that will buy assets throughout the range of condition because the demand for finished quality inventory is so high,” Workman said.
Metropolitan areas that experienced the brunt of the housing bust and the most foreclosures have experienced some of the biggest rebounds. Median home prices in Phoenix soared 21 percent in May from a year earlier to $175,236, followed by Tampa, Florida , which was up 20 percent to $118,000; Riverside-San Bernardino, California , up 18 percent to $220,000; and Miami, up 16 percent to $160,000, according to RealtyTrac .
Inventories have fallen for listings of all types, Seattle-based Zillow Inc. (Z) said today. The supply of homes listed with the online service is down 12 percent this month from a year earlier, with inventory tightest for pricier homes, Zillow said. In January the total drop was almost 18 percent.
Increased Repossessions
Four of the five largest home lenders that signed a nationwide settlement with regulators over alleged abuses in their foreclosure practices increased repossessions in May. Changes in procedures following the two-year investigation and accord, as well as government programs for homeowners, had slowed the rate of seizures.
“Foreclosures have been artificially depressed through government regulation and policy, and are going back to where they should have been,” Michael Krein, president of the National REO Brokers Association, said in a telephone interview. “Prices are rising rapidly in some markets because of the shortage.”
Citigroup Inc. (C) was the only bank among the five that settled last year with U.S. and state officials that didn’t post an increase in repossessions, as Wells Fargo & Co ., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Ally FinancialInc. all showed gains, RealtyTrac said.”