Are Banks Holding Out On Foreclosure Inventory ??

Recent housing surveys are showing an uptick in home prices, particularly in cities in warm-weather “sand states” that had been hard-hit during the housing slump, such as in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Miami, and Tampa. But some housing experts worry that the lift in prices may be temporary due to banks “hoarding foreclosures.”

Some real estate professionals allege that the “synthetically pumped prices” are being caused by “banks stockpiling foreclosed properties and purposely keeping them off the market until area prices truly soar.”

Some markets are seeing a decrease in inventory of for-sale homes, which has helped lift home prices in some areas due to an increase in demand but limited supply. But real estate professionals say they’re concerned what will be temporary when banks start releasing more foreclosures to the market. Some have accused banks of purposely holding onto foreclosures to wait for home prices to recover so that they can get higher returns for the homes, but real estate experts are concerned that could stall the housing recovery.

However, Mark Vitner, Wells Fargo senior economist, asserts that large banks are not hoarding foreclosures and waiting for prices to perk up.

"I don't think there's any concerted effort to hold properties back from the market," Vitner told MSNBC.com. "The process to [work through and re-sell] foreclosure inventory is lengthy and there just seems to be a lot of hurdles out there to getting these properties to market. A lot of the best properties have been in foreclosure and have already sold."

Backing up that assertion, CoreLogic, a market analytics service, reports that residential shadow inventory -- which includes foreclosures -- fell to 1.5 million units in April, a 14.8 percent drop from the same month one year earlier.

Also we have to keep in mind that the short sale process became much easier and faster and that accounts for a big part of default loans, bottom line is we are in the middle of the year here in Las Vegas that is considered one of the most distressed markets in the country and foreclosure inventory is very thin, good deals that come up on the market have multiple offers and are subject to a bidding war !!

Just wanted to share this information with all potential home buyers as well as investors wondering if it is time to buy .

Home buyers who are looking for big discounts on housing nowadays are finding that their lowball offers are no longer sticking with sellers, and that their offers are getting a flat-out “no” when they’re way below the asking price.
"Right off the bat, buyers say, 'I want a steal,' and you need to tell them they have to wipe that word out of their vocabulary !!
People , and especially investors,come in, and they think the market is 2008 or 2009, when sellers were desperate,but they're not desperate. Not at all and even in my marketplace such as Greater Las Vegas area where we were known for our distressed real estate
What quailfies as a low offer as far as sellers generally consider" lowball " to be less than 90 percent of their asking price.
Buyers, on the other hand, he says tend to say offers of 80 percent to 85 percent of the list price are reasonable.
Mistake some buyers make is going so low it’s not even reasonable and most sellers in today's market,and that includes the banks on REO or short sale properties,refused to take offers$10,000 to $40,000 less than her asking price: they just walk away from the table.
Another big mistakes home buyers are making in today’s changing housing market is that they are taking too long to make an offer and because of that they are losing out on getting the house they want. The number of for-sale homes on the market nationwide has shrunk considerably in recent months, bringing out higher competition for properties, particularly for move-in ready homes
Warm regards,