Next year is not likely to be a good one for the housing market. The reasons for this are multifold. In a post yesterday I discussed what I see as an inevitable decline in home values in the coming year. In this post I want to discuss what I see as another 2011 inevitability: an increase in foreclosure activity.
According to data provider RealtyTrac, foreclosure activity was down in November. There were 262,000 foreclosure notices issued, which is down 21 percent from the month prior and down 14 percent from the previous year. In fact, this was the first time since February 2009 that foreclosure notices dropped below 300,000. On the face of it, this appears to be a good thing. In reality, the decrease can be directly attributed to foreclosure moratoriums issued by major lenders due to the incredibly sloppy paperwork that resulted in the whole robo-signing fiasco that is yet unresolved. The decrease in foreclosure activity simply amounts to a stay of execution for many Americans who are in dire financial straights.
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