HousingLink Blog

• How Do You Calculate Home Foreclosures?

  2/11/2010 11:47:22 AM

  An important question is being discussed in the media lately: "When you say a home is in foreclosure, what does that mean?" Minnesota Public Radio has been exploring this question. MPR recently reported that there seems to be a discrepancy between the foreclosure data that RealtyTrac produces and reports that are released by HousingLink and the MN Home Ownership Center.

  RealtyTrac has stated that foreclosures in Minnesota were up nearly 50% in 2009 while HousingLink and the MN Home Ownership Center claim that foreclosures took a slight decline in 2009, rather than a huge increase.

  Where's the difference?

  The discrepancies comes down to what you actually count as a "foreclosure". At HousingLink, we believe the most accurate way to calculate foreclosures is to look at sheriff's sales--the point at which a homeowner loses their home to the lender or third party real estate organization. RealtyTrac tally's up all the properties that are anywhere in the foreclosure process--from the first pre-foreclosure notice a homeowner receives to the actual sheriff's sale. Given that there are numerous ways for people to avoid a sheriff's sale along the path to foreclosure, we feel that calculating actual sheriff's sales give the most accurate picture of homes that have been foreclosed on. RealtyTrac feels otherwise.
  
  This debate will continue into the future. What do you think? Which method of calculating foreclosures seems to make the most sense to you?

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  Comments (2)

  Foreclosure MN Home Ownership Center RealtyTrac MPR

• Foreclosures In MN Seen From Different Perspectives

  2/2/2010 9:42:44 AM

  Last week, Minnesota Public Radio reported a story noting that foreclosure figures for MN, as reported by RealtyTrac, don't seem to be consistent with foreclosure numbers HousingLink collects every year as part of the Foreclosure in MN reporting series. According to RealtyTrac, foreclosures were up nearly 60% from 2008, while as of Q3, HousingLink was reporting a 13% drop in foreclosures versus the previous year. Why the difference? Well, RealtyTrac gathers data from various points along the timeline – from notices of default when a homeowner is initially delinquent on the mortgage to documents indicating “real estate owned” (REO), when a lender has taken possession of a property. With this aggregation of multiple stages in the foreclosure process, the number more accurately reflects “mortgages in the process of foreclosure,” whereas the HousingLink number reflects scenarios in which a homeowner has exhausted or not availed themselves of other options, some six months after an initial missed payment, and finally lost their property at a county sheriff’s sale auction. HousingLink contacts the county sheriff offices, directly, in order to gather a complete inventory. RealtyTrac’s data comes primarily from lender filings, and is weighted more heavily toward more populous counties. Their “loans in REO status” is probably most similar to the data we collect, but it is not a perfect comparison. We should note that there are often options available to homeowners who are in this “process of foreclosure,” and looking for help. We recommend contacting the counselors at the MN Home Ownership Center for more information.

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  Foreclosure RealtyTrac MPR

• Affordable Housing Needed Everwhere

  1/26/2010 10:28:32 AM

  A few days ago, Minnesota Public Radio published a story that's near-and-dear to the mission of HousingLink. The story looked at a recent Brookings Institute report that analyzed poverty rates over the 95 largest metropolitan areas in the country. The MPR story points out that poverty rates are growing faster in suburban areas than they are in central cities, in the majority of country. One notable exception was the Twin Cities metro area. We are seeing poverty rates increase faster in the central cities. "Also, over the last 8 years the number of people living below the poverty line in the Twin Cities grew faster than it did in cities like Chicago and Milwaukee." writes Brandt Williams. The article doesn't state why the poverty rates in the Twin Cities are growing but one could speculate any number of reasons: High rates of immigration? Job loss? Political actions? Population migration? Something completely different?
  
  This article gets at the heart of why we think our work at HousingLink is so important. We were founded to be a resource for people to have greater locational choice when it comes to where they want to live. Our goal is to help people, from all parts of the Twin Cities, find and keep a quality, affordable place to call home. This article tells us that there is still more work to be done. We will continue help address the housing needs of those who have great needs.

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  Housing Poverty MPR