Number of Foreclosure Homes Still Increasing

The number of foreclosure homes increased by more than five percent during the third quarter of 2009 when compared to the previous quarter.  The Making Home Affordable program of the federal government was unable to stop the rise in foreclosure filings in spite of its attempts to decrease the monthly payments of the homeowners who are experiencing financial hardships by making it easier for them to qualify for a loan modification.  It appears that the government program has been overwhelmed by the large number of layoffs.

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.  At this rate, the number of foreclosure filings is expected to reach approximately 3.5 million for the whole year of 2009, which is much higher than the 2.3 million filings in 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.  However, with the record unemployment rate, it is very difficult for those who have lost their jobs to find work.

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 trying to examine whether the borrowers would be able to fulfill the requirements for the Making Home Affordable program of the Obama Administration.  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.  Unfortunately, this will continue to bring down home prices.  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}