Sounds like Scott has the inside view. I am an appraiser in Lee County mentioned in a post. We are moving properties, however they are entering the market at about the same rate. All good news. Many that I have worked with were abandoned construction projects. Many of those are not yet transferred, however the banks are beginning to secure them and mow the weeds. I see an excellation of listing and quickly getting rid of the inventory which would be in line with the timelines pointed out by Scott. Buy now, if you're looking at Southwest Florida as after this year, normal pre boom increases are likely.

I do consulting work for 3 local banks and I will say this for the 3 of them at least. They are holding onto inventory but not near as many as have been released over the last 8 months to REO agents. Two of the 3 banks I work with have a corporate deadline of Oct. 1, 2009 to rid themselves of all bad debt. They are my main providers of property for my investors right now. They are fire selling homes at way lower prices than what you will find on the MLS, which has become corrupted lately. The other bank is selling but has a Dec. 31 deadline. Now...do you think they are holding onto things? Don't think so. One of these banks was probably top 5 in the area during the construction boom. Time to buy is this year. We wholesale some of them if you are interested.

Linda,
Interesting question,one that has been circulating for a while. Rumors are just that Rumors.

More Bank owned properties are on the way about 700,000 nationwide. this pipeline is full!
Realtor Rick

Hello Linda,
To release or not to release that is the.... rumor. Banks are doing what they can to muddle through the pile of short sales and foreclosures they already have. Lack of man power, judges etc. would be another reason not to saturate any market if there was a surplus. As I ride around showing properties I am also looking at properties that appear to be in distress and most of them all have lock boxes and signs on the properties. Inventory of available foreclosures is dimenishing however not as quickly as most would want. Lee County sold more homes last quarter than any other quarter including the boom years. Buyers with cash know that now is the time to jump in and not when prices start creeping back up. By then it is almost too late to make that bargain buy. The longer you wait the more competition you are going to have because of all the fence sitters that are doing just what you are doing. Most of the low priced foreclosures in the Cape are already going 25%- 40% over list as it is. This feeding frenzy is sending the base offering prices higher (thank God). The 9,000 + homes that have been sitting vacant for the last year or so are now starting to get that much needed TLC which will spur on the contractor and sub markets giving jobs to many that have been without for the last year. Waiting to find that deal of a lifetime is not the answer here. Perhaps in another city but not on the Gulfcoast. Hurricane season has always been and will always be the best time to find your best deals. You may start by using http://www.swfloridahomebuyer.listingbook.com as your search engine for the Florida Gulfcoast MLS. I will be available to you as your buyers agent to answer any questions regarding each listing you mark as a favorite. Happy to help you find your piece of paradise in SW Florida.

Sarah Garrett, Realtor
ALLIANCE REALTY GROUP
"Chosen Best in Client Satisfaction 2006-2009"
By Gulfshore Life Magazine
239-464-8620
239-274-3766x3030
sarahgarrett@argfl.com

I think some banks are not listing many of their REO's right now in hopes of better times to come.

I keep up wiith the market and after several webinars, I say yes. What the banks don't want to do is release all their REO's and devalue the market so other REO's are comped against these which will make them worth less.

I see this happening in my market right now. If I were a buyer I would take my time and wait to see what happens in July....

If I were a seller in a short sale situation, I'd price my house really good to compete against these listings.

Hi Linda,
You ask some very interesting questions. The issue with the price range you are speaking of really does not have much to do with the banks holding on to them but the market for that price range is not there because there was so little financing over the past year and a half and if you did get a mortgage the rates were not competitive. Once you go over $417,000 it is considered a jumbo mortgage which was very difficult to get financed for so even though we had buyers in Florida the deals fell apart. Thankfully things are slowly starting to loosen up in this price range and rates are great. I currently several different investors that want this market so I personally see it starting to pick up. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out. Good Luck and happy searching.

Melissa Antenucci
Ameritrust Mortgage Associates LLC
561-716-0792

Hi Linda - That's a new one to me! I honestly don't think that banks would hold onto any property that they don't have to considering that they are not in the business of real estate but rather making money. By hanging onto certain valued properties only increases their debt. Remember, when banks have foreclosed properties, they are responsible for the upkeep of these properties, so it wouldn't make much sense for them to hang onto them any longer than they have to. I think what "your source" means is that as the foreclosures get bought up, it will eventually also bring up the price of homes due to less inventory of foreclosures. Sales have steadily increased in 2009 in Lee County compared to this time last year which means that foreclosed homes are not staying on the market as long as they were. We've seen an increase in home sales by as much as 25% the first quarter on 2009, however we have also seen an increase in foreclosures too. We have had a number of short sales that will soon be going into foreclosure, so those homes will be available as foreclosures and the banks will be wanting to get rid of these. Eventually, prices will start to go up as the foreclosure inventory gets sold, but it will be a while. What you have to decide is when is it a good time for YOU to buy. The current market will probably stay like this for a while and slowly start creeping up in price eventually, but I don't see a specific time frame. You can still purchase a home for considerably less than the replacement value. I hope this information helps and if there is anything I can do to assist in your search, you can email or call me at your convenience!
Sincerely,
Jeanine Standing Bear
Sandals Realty of Fort Myers
email: jstandingbear@yahoo.com
#239-340-5600

Linda,

According to stats from last year, there were approximately 760,000 homes nationwide that consist of what we call "shadow inventory". We're hopeful that we'll see more of that inventory since we'll never be able to experience a full recovery until it's absorbed. I've told many of my clients to get really serious in the fall and to just keep an eye on the market through their Listingbook accounts. I don't think we'll have a serious price depreciation but we might see a slight dip. The demand is here and inventory has been drying up, so it's pretty unlikely we'll see massive price reductions even if most of that inventory gets flooded onto the market. If you haven't already signed up for a Listingbook account, I would recommend finding an agent that you like and are comfortable with and signing up with them. It's free but gives you a TON of info - taxes, pending and sold properties, etc.

I can't say for true if the banks are going to start releasing all of that inventory in Jul/Aug but it would be a big help in the long run.

Happy hunting!

Danielle Sharp
Broker Assoc
Vadala Realty

Cell 248.207.4445
sharphomes@yahoo.com