Beach Cities: January-December 2008... Foreclosure and pre-foreclosure

It seems that more changes are on the way in our local real estate market as more pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties hit the market. Last year North and South Redondo took the biggest hits from properties entering foreclosure. This year year Manhattan , Hermosa and El Segundo are showing increases in the number of properties in trouble. The numbers reflect an increase in new construction projects... both homes and townhomes... along with older homes and townhomes.

Short sale listings are on the rise in all the Beach Cities but these often take a long time to get bank approval. This is especially true if the bank is out of state or a small lender. I'm guessing that the February increase in NOD's(notice of default) and NOT's(notice of sale) is a reflection of the low home sale volume in the 4th quarter in the Beach Cities.

A number of buyers are passing on the short sale option and waiting for these homes to become REO's(bank owned) in the expectation of a better deal. However that may notalways prove to be true as some banks would rather cut their losses quickly rather then go through a long foreclosure process if they see a good offer.

Beach Cities: NOD's January-February 2009(click on graph to enlarge)

Beach Cities: NOT's January-February 2009

Beach Cities: REO's January-February 2009