The real estate prices in the United States have hockey-sticked in the past year. People have left large cities, particularly on the east and west coasts as the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed them to work from home. Many have found less expensive communities with better quality of life. Prices in some central parts of New York City and San Francisco have dropped. However, almost everywhere else, real estate prices have moved up by double digits.
Among the other reasons for higher home prices are historically low mortgage rates and strong income growth among the middle and upper classes. Builders have tried to keep up with inventory. That has not worked in a number of markets.
Foreclosure rates have remained very low, after a drop that begun to occur at the end of the housing bubble which was part of the Great Recession. Foreclosure rates in 2007 and 2008 had hit very high levels and only began to taper off more than a year later.
Foreclosures have not disappeared completely and actually began to tick higher in the second quarter, according to real estate research firm ATTOM Data Solutions. In its Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, it said, “The report reveals that 223,671 properties are in the process of foreclosure in the second quarter of this year, up 27.5 percent from the first quarter of 2021 but still down 13.3 percent from the second quarter of 2020.”
ATTOM looks at data by state and by city. Among cities, it broke out the largest markets in the country. Properties facing foreclosures vacated by their owners hit 8,078 in the second quarter.
Among cities with populations of over 500,000 was San Francisco lowest at 0.8%. Interestingly, two other cities close by geographically also had extremely low rates. The rate in Sacramento in the second quarter was 1.5%. In San Diego, it was 1.4%. Although the study does not show relationships between home prices and foreclosures, San Francisco is among the U.S. housing markets with the most expensive homes.
Click here to see which American city has the highest foreclosure rate.
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