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Florida Current Staff | “Florida once again led the nation in its foreclosure rate for the first six months the year, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac, a California-based company that tracks foreclosed properties. The Sunshine State had one foreclosure filing — a default notice, scheduled auction or bank repossession — for every 58Read more

ILYCE GLINK / MONEYWATCH / “Starting this month, some lenders are offering certain homeowners loan modifications — without even being asked. Under a new plan created by the Federal Housing and Finance Administration, mortgage servicers must offer homeowners who are three to 24 months behind on their payments a plan to help them avoid foreclosure. The StreamlinedRead more

Orlando Sentinel | “Rarely does U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown feud with the White House — the veteran Florida lawmaker is a loyal Democrat, after all. But plans by the administration to shutter a pair of housing offices in Orlando and Tampa as soon as this fall has stirred Brown into mounting an intense, and occasionally bitter, campaign to keepRead more

Josh Salman | Herald Tribune | “Lenders completed fewer foreclosures nationwide in May, but the rate of defaults continue to top recent years and the amount of distressed residences remains dangerously high, a new report shows. Mortgage bankers repossessed 52,000 delinquent U.S. homes in May, a 3.5 percent increase from April but down 27 percent fromRead more

TheRealDeal.com | “Tens of thousands of Florida homeowners have abandoned properties threatened by foreclosure, a dark spot in the Sunshine State’s otherwise brightening real estate market, the Palm Beach Post reported. About 55,000 Florida homes with defaulted mortgages are deserted, nearly one third of the national total and more than triple second-place Illinois, which hasRead more

By Les Christie | @CNNMoney | “The long national foreclosure nightmare is nearing its end, with foreclosure filings hitting their lowest level since before the housing bust.   Total foreclosure filings, including notices of default, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, dropped to 127,790 in June, down 35% over the past 12 months, according to RealtyTrac. Overall, filings haveRead more

Cameron Davis | ThinkProgress | “The number of completed foreclosures in May was down 27 percent, to 50,000, compared to May of last year, analytics firm Core Logic reported Tuesday. One million homes remain in some stage of foreclosure, although that figure is down 29 percent from a year earlier. But while foreclosure rates are downRead more

Heather Perlberg & John Gittelsohn | “Jonathan Gray, global head of real estate at Blackstone Group LP, talks about Blackstone’s investment in residential real estate and the outlook for the U.S. housing and commercial property market. He speaks with Erik Schatzker and Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.” (Source: Bloomberg) The firm, which already ownsRead more

Reuters with CNBC.com | “Fewer U.S. foreclosures were completed in May compared to a year ago, while the number of houses in the foreclosure process also declined as the market continued to heal, data analysis firm CoreLogic said Tuesday. There were 52,000 foreclosures completed, well below the 71,000 in May 2012, CoreLogic said. Even so, thatRead more

Garrett Kenny | The Canadian | “I am very pleased to be reporting on the striving property market this month. I have witnessed it first hand as the CEO of Century 21 Team Feltrim. Florida’s property market is rapidly recovering from the property bust years prior and was one of the hardest hit states during theRead more