The number of foreclosure homes increased by more than five percent during the third quarter of 2009 when compared to the previous quarter. The increase occurred despite the presence of the Making Home Affordable program of the federal government that attempts to help borrowers undergoing financial hardships to get a loan modification to reduce their monthly payments. Apparently, the government program was overpowered by the large increase in the number of people without jobs.
Approximately 48,000 homes were added to the number of foreclosure homes listed as of June 2009, thereby pushing up the number of foreclosed properties to 938,000 during the third quarter of 2009. If the statistics are extrapolated to the end of 2009, there would be a total of about 3.5 million foreclosure filings for the whole year, which is much larger than the 2.3 million filings recorded for 2008.
Many economists have been declaring that the recession has ended but the foreclosure rate is still on the rise because the unemployment rate has reached an unprecedented level of 9.8 percent during the past 26 years. Moreover, experts have predicted that the unemployment rate will keep on rising until it will attain its highest level in the middle of 2010. Mortgage lenders are trying to help by permitting the homeowners to be delayed by three to six months in their payments as they look for work. Unfortunately, looking for work at a time when the unemployment rate has reached an all-time high is very tough.
The Obama Administration had recently claimed that its program had reached a milestone when more than half a million homeowners had their loans modified and monthly payments reduced. Unfortunately, the number of borrowers getting into default still surpassed the number of homeowners who were being given loan modifications.
Mortgage lenders have been doing their share in minimizing the effects of the housing crisis by reducing the rate at which they are filing foreclosures. They have been attempting to assess whether homeowners would be eligible for the Making Home Affordable program of the government. However, experts predict that a substantial number of those borrowers would not qualify and they forecast a new set of forecloser homes coming into the market in 2010. This is expected to pull down home market values further. Banks and other lenders are unable to find a loan modification plan that is suitable for the present income capabilities of the homeowners in view of the gravity of their financial hardships. For more foreclosure news stop by http://www.bestforeclosurenews.com
