Preforeclosure Notices Continue to Plummet in Minnesota

The Minnesota Homeownership Center has compiled the most recent quarterly data on Preforeclosure notices and the report shows that the number of notices issued by banks and servicers continues to plummet across the state.  The data is another encouraging sign that the Minnesota housing market is slowly recovering from the foreclosure crisis.


In the second quarter of 2013, Minnesota homeowners received only 6,598 preforeclosure notices, a healthy 34% drop from the almost 10,000 notices received in the same quarter of 2012:

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The decline is even more dramatic in the Twin Cities metro area, where the 3,339 3,714 notices received* by homeowners represent a drop of almost half from the same period last year:    

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”We see signs of the overall economy improving as well as a willingness on the part of lenders and servicers to work with struggling homeowners before they enter the foreclosure process,” Said Ed Nelson, Marketing and Communications Manager for the Center  “If the economy continues to gain traction, combined the extraordinary efforts of the statewide network of foreclosure prevention counselors, we should continue see even fewer foreclosures in the future.”

The positive trend for Minnesota cannot be denied... but we also know that these numbers mean that almost SIXTEEN THOUSAND families were struggling to make mortgage payments - and fell behind - during the first half of 2013.   The Minnesota Homeownership Center and the Homeownership Advisors Network will continue to offer FREE foreclosure avoidance services to anyone who is struggling with their mortgage payments.

If you, or someone you know, is struggling with to keep up with their mortgage payments, or is worried about a FUTURE payment... don't delay, contact a Homeownership Advisor that specializes in foreclosure today!  To learn more, or to contact your local organization, click here.


*DATA UPDATED - The author incorrectly tallied the data for the Twin Cities metro area.

Uptick in Preforeclosure Notices: Blip or Trend?

A mixed-bag for foreclosures in Minnesota


On Wednesday, May 1st, the Minnesota Homeownership Center released its first quarter data on the aggregate number of Preforeclosure Notices received by foreclosure prevention specialists in the Homeownership Advisors Network.  The numbers send some mixed messages.  Overall… it’s something that we’ll need to track carefully over the coming quarters.  

In the first quarter of 2013, members of the Homeownership Advisors Network received 9,291 preforeclosure notices, 23% fewer than during the same time period in 2012, but a somewhat troubling 34% increase from the number received in the Fourth Quarter of 2012.  

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The Twin Cities Metro area also saw a similar situation with their preforeclosure notice numbers… down Year-Over-Year (-34.5%) while up from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013 (+25.1%).

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Interestingly… there was a WIDE variance in the year-over-year comparison of preforeclosure notices received by homeowners in the Twin Cities Metro:

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Suburban Hennepin County homeowners received less than HALF the number of preforeclosure notices in the first quarter of 2013 than they received in the first quarter of 2012.  However, 20% MORE Ramsey County residents received a preforeclosure notice when we compare the same time period.

While most Metro counties overall saw generous declines in the number of struggling homeowners… Anoka County bucked that trend and 44 more households received a notice in the first quarter of 2013 than in the same quarter in 2012.  (A 4% increase).

One quarter of data does NOT make a trend.  We’ll keep monitoring these numbers carefully over the coming quarters to see if a trend develops.

We certainly don’t want to sound like a broken record… but it’s also important to keep in mind that while the overall trend of preforeclosure notices continues to head in the right direction… the numbers signify that almost 10,000 Minnesota families continue to fall behind in mortgage payments.  Tens of thousands more are surely struggling to make mortgage payments and will continue to need the foreclosure prevention services provided by the Minnesota Homeownership Center and the Homeownership Advisors Network.

If you, or someone you know, is struggling with to keep up with their mortgage payments, or is worried about a FUTURE payment... don't delay, contact a Homeownership Advisor that specializes in foreclosure today!  To learn more, or to contact your local organization, click here.

Preforeclosure Notices Drop 21% in First Quarter

The beginning of the end of the foreclosure crisis in Minnesota?

Source: revjavadude

The Minnesota Homeownership Center has released its most recent report on the aggregate number of Preforeclosure Notices received by foreclosure counselors in the Homeownership Advisors Network and the numbers signal a possible light at the end of the tunnel for the foreclosure crisis that has affected the housing industry and Minnesota families for more than four years.

In the first quarter of 2011, members of the Homeownership Advisors Network received 14,595 preforeclosure notices, a drop of 21% from the same time period a year ago, and a 15% drop in the number of notices received last quarter (Q4, 2010).

This number reflects the lowest number received by counseling agencies since we started compiling the data in the first quarter of 2009:

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The drop in notices received by counseling organizations in the Twin Cities metro was equally dramatic. 8,836 notices were received, a 20% decrease over the same time period in 2010, and, like what we saw statewide, a 15% drop in the number of notices received last quarter:

It’s certainly too early to celebrate, as the number still means that almost 15,000 Minnesota families are still dangerously close to losing their homes to foreclosure and thousands of others are still struggling with their monthly mortgage payment. In addition, the most recent (Q1) Sheriff Sale numbers from HousingLink while down, still reflect numbers that are 400% higher than pre-crisis numbers. But it might be time to be cautiously optimistic that the very worst of the crisis is over. Remember, the housing crisis was a overwhelming painful for Minnesota and families involved and recovery will take MANY years.


If you or someone you know is struggling with their mortgage payment, new programs, resources and assistance are becoming available all the time. DON’T GIVE UP… contact a foreclosure counselor that is a member of the Homeownership Advisors Network TODAY to see if there’s help available for YOU to avoid foreclosure. Even if you’re not yet behind, now is the time to call. To find your local foreclosure counselor, click here.

For additional information about the statutory requirement for pre-foreclosure notices, visit the Office of Revisor of Statutes website here.

Foreclosures Are Getting Worse

As we've highlighted on this blog before (here and here, for example) Minnesota is NOT out of the woods yet, and will continue to see elevated numbers of foreclosures for quite a while.

On Friday, September 17th, Minnesota's most-populated county, Hennepin County, through its Taxpayer Services department, released a fresh round of information regarding Sheriff Sale data for August, 2010... and the data does not look good.

For the county, the number of foreclosure sales (Sheriff Sales) conducted in August of 2010 exceeded the number during the same periods during each of the three preceding years - 2009, 2008, and 2007.

Here is how August 2010 compares to the three previous years: 

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According to Hennepin County Taxpayer Services:

If foreclosure sales continue at this pace for the rest of the this year, the number may reach the 6,000-6,300 range

If this number is reached, 2010 could outpace 2009, and even rival the record-breaking number of 7,348 set in 2008.

In actuality, August 2010 recorded the 7th highest number of foreclosures in Hennepin County in a single month since these numbers have been tracked:

Minnesota homeowners continue to struggle with mortgage payments and continue to face the specter of foreclosure.  But it's not all doom-and-gloom.  Hennepin County (Taxpayer Services, Hennepin County Library and others) continues to work with the MN Home Ownership Center and its network of Housing Counseling agencies to offer FREE trustworthy resources to avoid foreclosure.  For a complete list of information sessions hosted by Hennepin County and the Minnesota Home Ownership Center, click here.

If you can't join us at one of the sessions, but would like to learn about what resources and assistance are available to Minnesota homeowners to avoid foreclosure, you can learn more about foreclosure avoidance services that are available - FREE - at the Center's website here or by calling us at 651-659-9336. 

Don't delay... the sooner you contact a non-profit housing counseling agency, the more options you have!

Census Bureau Releases Housing Data

This is actually a couple of days old... but I thought our readers might be interested in knowing that the U.S. Census Bureau has released the 2009 American Housing Survey, The Report covers statistics about apartments, single-family homes, manufactured housing, new construction and vacant housing units throughout the country.

According to the new survey... the nation's homeowners paid a median of $1,000 in monthly housing costs in 2009, compared with $808 for renters. However, renters usually paid a higher percentage of their household income on these costs than did owners (31 percent compared with 20 percent).

A wide range of specific topics is covered in the survey, such as the presence of air conditioning, crowding, housing costs, special living services offered to older residents, type of heating fuel used, cost of utilities and size of the home... and even 'subjective' information like satisfaction with the neighborhood. Of course, the survey also covers the demographic characteristics of the housing units' occupants.

Here are some interesting facts from the report:

• Thirty-two percent of owner-occupied units were owned free and clear,
• 66 percent had a regular and/or home equity mortgage and 2 percent had only a line-of-credit.
• The most important consideration for recent movers in choosing their homes was financial (28 percent), followed by room layout/design (15 percent) and size of home (10 percent). Furthermore, the most common reasons recent movers had for choosing their neighborhoods were convenience to job (20 percent), convenience to friends or relatives (14 percent), look/design of neighborhood (10 percent) and the house itself (10 percent).
• Ten percent of communities had secured entrances, with the likelihood somewhat higher (15 percent) in new communities. [Ed... Really? 10% of all single-family homes are in gated communities??]

Data from this survey (In MS Excel format) are available at the national and regional level, and for inside and outside metropolitan statistical areas, and urban and rural areas.

Remember... The Minnesota Homeownership Center’s goal is SUCCESSFUL homeownership. If you’re thinking of buying your first home… the Center is here to help. Workshops for first-time buyers are available throughout the state and counselors (one-on-one meetings) are also available. If you’d like to learn more, visit our website here.

Foreign Born Homeownership Rates in Minnesota

MN Compass has recently released a ton of great demographic information about foreign-born populations in Minnesota. The data includes information on age, length of time in the US, income and, especially important to the work we do here at the MN Home Ownership Center, information on rental and homeownership rates.

Below you can see data that we’ve consolidated from MN Compass on the homeownership rates among Minnesota’s immigrant groups. We’ve sorted the list by size (population number).

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Interestingly… every one of the groups saw gains in their homeownership rate from 2000 through 2008. Some of these gains are significant. Although the Liberian population is relatively small in Minnesota, they saw a 50% increase in their homeownership rate. The Mexican population, Minnesota’s largest foreign-born group, saw an increase of close to 30%.

It will certainly be interesting to see how/if the homeownership rates change after this year’s census.

The Minnesota Homeownership Center’s goal is SUCCESSFUL homeownership. If you’re thinking of buying your first home… especially if you are new to the process in the U.S. or might prefer assistance in your native language, the Center is here to help. Workshops for first-time buyers are available in more than 5 different languages throughout the state and counselors can work with interpreters in ANY language. If you’d like to learn more, visit our website here.

Metro Home Prices Not Back to Peak Until After 2015

According to the research firm Fiserv, Inc. ... Twin Cities Metro Area home prices won't recover to their mid-2000's peak until sometime between 2015 and 2025.  Yeah... that's 15 years from now!

Minneapolis was actually highlighted in their press release (but not in the data they've released for free, sorry):

A protracted recovery in home prices is also expected in many urban neighborhoods where predatory lending was most rampant. There, home prices rose rapidly from very low levels during the bubble years. These markets include neighborhoods in cities such as Minneapolis, Memphis and Chicago.  [Emphasis ours]

Here's the 'heat map' for housing-price recoveries according to Fiserv:

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BTW, that's a lot of RED in California, Arizona and Florida!

One bright spot, though, is that according to the same map, Duluth and parts of the Arrowhead should see prices back revert back to their peak prices in just a couple of years.

Fiserv came to its conclusions using the data collected from the Case-Shiller home price indexes and data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Moody’s Economy.com, and the Center makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the data or projections. :-)


Now, what does this mean for the Center and our work?

For homebuyers:

• The idea of earning quick equity and/or using your home as short-term road to wealth should NEVER be a  deciding factor in purchasing your first home;
• Purchasing a home is a LONG-TERM decision... you may not be able to sell the home you purchase today FOR YEARS without incurring expenses;
• Home ownership is expensive and homeowners need to understand the costs as well as the benefits of owning;
• Pre-purchase education and counseling are keys to understanding REAL wealth generation and long-term successful homeownership.  Click here for more info on the Home Stretch program.

For current homeowners (and the foreclosure issue):

• Without price appreciation on the horizon for a number of years, struggling homeowners will be unable to access equity, or sell without incurring losses, for quite some time.
• More homeowners may decide to 'strategically default' that may lower prices even further, which in turn will further depress home prices in hard-hit areas.

ALSO... we couldn't post about foreclosure issues without warning Minnesota Home Owners, AGAIN, to make sure that they NEVER pay for any third-party loan modification service. Deal directly with your lender yourself, or with one of our free, non-profit Foreclosure Counselors.


Any thoughts?  Feel fee to share your opinions in the comments.

IRS Data On Home Buyer Credit

On Thursday, March 11th, The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released its 2009 IRS Data Book, which contains a ton of data about the IRS's fiscal year, Oct. 1, 2008 - Sept. 30, 2009.

Of possible interest to the "numbers and data" wonks that follow this blog is Table A: First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit for Homes Purchased in 2009, by State, FY 2009.  Remember, the Fiscal Year for the IRS ends in September.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, taxpayers could claim the First-Time Home Buyer Credit on either their 2008 or 2009 tax returns.  The data included in the report is for buyers that claimed the credit on the 2009 return. (Jan 1, 2009 through Sept 30, 2009)

According to the IRS:

•  10,341 taxpayers took advantage of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit in Minnesota. 
• That ranks us as the state with the 14th highest usage of the claim. 
• Those 10,341 taxpayers claimed $76.7mm in credits,
• Or an average of $7,417.74 per household.

You can view the full 2009 IRS Data Book, here.


As we've mentioned numerous times before... a tax credit should NEVER be the deciding factor in purchasing your first home.  If you're thinking about buying a home in Minnesota... and have questions about the process or any assistance that may be available.. including tax credits, contact a Housing Counselor today to review YOUR options.