The Weekend in Review – June 25-27

· 5 States Receive “Hardest Hit” Funds, 5 More Likely to Follow
The U.S. Treasury Department has approved 5 states’ applications to aid homeowners with foreclosures in an attempt to stem the tide of foreclosures in Michigan, Arizona, Florida, California and Nevada. The funds will be used by the states’ individual housing agencies to supplement principal reduction plans, help unemployed homeowners make mortgage payments and smooth the way for short sales, payoff of secondary liens and deed-in-lieu transactions. North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Oregon and South Carolina have submitted plans for similar programs and are expected to receive a total of about $600 million in aid.

· Short Sale Surge in Detroit
As lenders try to stem the onslaught of foreclosures in Michigan and across the Midwest, short sale transactions have tripled in Detroit. In the past year, the frequency of this type of transaction has risen 171% in some areas of the state. However, banks are still holding a large “shadow inventory” of REO properties, and this could slow the overall pace of the Midwest market back down when they are put up for sale.

· Experts Predict Deed-in-Lieu Will Surpass Short Sales in Popularity?
The Washington Post recently ran an opinion piece by a real estate market expert predicting that short sales could yield the stage to deeds-in-lieu in the coming months. Banks and lenders are not only gearing up campaigns to promote this transaction, which takes far less time than a short sale, and some are even offering cash incentives.

P.S. If you haven’t signed up for my Free Short Sale Course yet, then you are really missing out, go here:
http://www.freeshortsalecourse.com/