There were 380 sales transactions completed in April 2011 compared to 440 in April of 2010. This is a drop of 13.64%. The housing market in Loudoun County is heading in the wrong direction as demand dries up in the face of stricter lending by zombie banks.
Foreclosure sales were down 14% as well even though the foreclosure turnstiles were stuck as banks were caught falsifying documents, lying on affadavits and overall being fraudulent in their attempts to steal homes from citizens. This number should have been down much further if the government would just enforce laws of due process regarding foreclosures. April 2011 had 50 foreclosure sales versus 58 last year.
Shorts sales continue to be a complete disaster with the government doing almost nothing at all to get the banks to approve short sales. April 2011 showed 65 shorts sales closes versus 111 last year. This is a 41% drop off in approved and completed short sales. More evidence that banks are not fixing the problem and nobody is making them. This is contrary to any rhetoric coming from the government or from anyone else for that matter. The short sale problem has been a problem for years and banks have fought each and every attempt to fix this problem. It will never go away as long as banks buy our congressmen at the state and federal levels.
Here is a story at MSNBC regarding just how ineffective the government has been in fixing the housing problems. They are being paid a lot of money to kill any bill that will hold the banks accountable and we as regular citizens are on our own to battle them.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42881365/ns/business-personal_finance
As a first time home buyer who finally came off of the sidelines and just bought a single family home in Loudoun, I didn't find it hard at all to get a loan. If you have respectable credit and a good debt-to-income ratio, you'll be able to choose almost any lender you want. We went with a FHA loan and bought a very nice single family home for almost 30% less than what that same home sold for just 3.5 years ago. Having rented in Loudoun for the last 5 years I honestly think it is good that prices have started to come back to reality. In fact, I know several people who have also recently (or are in the process of) buying their homes in Loudoun and none have them have had issues getting a mortgage. In the "bubble" years if you had a pulse you could qualify for almost any amount of money you wanted. Those days are big part of what caused the bubble in real-estate, and I think it is a good thing that lenders are starting to go back to a more 'traditional' way of lending.
Posted by: No longer on the sidelines... | May 20, 2011 at 02:52 PM
You may think it is impossible to get home loans after foreclosure and/or bankruptcy, and those two big financial pitfalls can indeed be difficult to climb out of. USAForeclose.com
Posted by: Daniel Williams | October 01, 2011 at 03:34 PM
good thing you posted the stats in loudon about real estate.
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