Elk Grove real estate foreclosure ads hold steady

Is another huge wave coming?

For the first week of September, the number of Elk Grove real estate foreclosure ads held steady. Display advertising in the Elk Grove Citizen has also held steady.

While foreclosures have held steady, the coming months could show another huge increase. According to a report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association, the number of foreclosure proceedings in the second quarter jumped substanitally.

The seasonally adjusted foreclosure starts rate, the percentage of loans that entered the foreclosure process during the April-June quarter, was 1.19 percent, up from 0.99 percent in the first three months of 2008 and 0.65 percent in the second quarter of 2007.

Further complicating matters is widespread speculation that the federal government may take over troubled GSE mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The New York Times reports;

The hope is that by stabilizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together own or guarantee nearly half of all mortgages outstanding, the government will forestall a more severe decline in economic activity and restore some order to the financial system.

Earlier this week in a Wall Street Journal story, Credit Suisse economist predicted that housing prices have yet to bottom out.

On the positive side for those in Elk Grove facing foreclosure, if there is one at this point, proving who actually holds your mortgage is unclear. Unlike days of old when the Baily Brothers S&L held your mortgage, mortgages are now chopped, packaged, securitized and repackaged into so many small parts, it is actually difficult to determine who holds a mortgage.

The Village Voice reports;

Lenders have reportedly abandoned foreclosure action after courts have demanded to see original mortgage notes, and as judges see the substandard structure of paperwork of many subprime loans going into foreclosure, there have been more rulings in favor of the borrowers, not the lenders.

Now if the Elk Grove City Council wanted to do something to help out troubled homeowners, perhaps they could take the lead on this and help guide some of our own instead of looking out for the interest of Bay Area real estate developers. That might be to much to ask though.

Is another huge wave coming? It sure looks that way.

Thom Nadeau contributed to this story.