Weak demand and foreclosures are continuing to weigh on the market. CoreLogic chief economist Mark Fleming said that the real estate market faces a number of barriers to recovery including negative equity.
‘We are looking out for renewed demand in the coming months as the spring buying season gets underway to hopefully reduce the downward pressure,’ Fleming said.
Of the 20 markets included in the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index, CoreLogic reported 18 of them saw price declines in January. Detroit home prices saw the largest declines at 13%.
While the best performing states included West Virginia, up 5.5%, North Dakota, up 3.3%, and New York, up 1.9%. The states with the largest drops were Idaho, down 15.7%, Alabama, down 12.1%, and Arizona, down 11%.
But foreclosure activity is slowing, the latest figures from Foreclosure Radar suggests. The report shows that after two months of increased activity on the courthouse steps, foreclosure sales dropped significantly with foreclosure sales back-to-the-bank dropping 48.4% and sales to third parties down 35.3% in February 2011 as compared to the prior month.
Filings dropped significantly in areas hindered by the recession, with notice of trustee sale filings dropping 27.9% year on year in Arizona and 17% in California.
Meanwhile, Arizona experienced a 38.9% drop in sales back to the bank and a 14.5% drop in sales to third parties when comparing February data to January.
Notice of default filings in California fell 29.6% on a year on year basis. The Golden State also experienced a 24.5% drop in sales back to the bank and a 20.3% decline in properties purchased by third parties.
Notice of default filings in Nevada declined 25.2% in February from a month earlier, reaching their lowest levels in two years.
‘Foreclosure filings dropped to low levels not seen in quite awhile. We will likely see more sluggish foreclosure activity in the months ahead while lenders continue to work through lingering concerns over foreclosure documentation and deal with process changes,’ said Sean O'Toole, chief executive officer and founder of Foreclosure Radar.
