Thursday, January 3, 2013

"Shadow Inventory"

As reported in the Daily Real Estate News in REALTORMag, here is some good news regarding “shadow inventory”.  This is something that has been hanging out there for a few years and hopefully now that threat is going away. 

Shadow Inventory Threat Wanes
The number of homes in “shadow inventory” dropped from 2.6 million in October 2011 to 2.3 million in October 2012, according to a new report from CoreLogic.
Shadow inventory refers to the supply of homes that are in foreclosure or have seriously delinquent mortgages but are not yet on the market.
Many housing experts once predicted that the shadow inventory would cause overall inventories to skyrocket and place downward pressure on home prices. Yet an increase in short sales and loan modifications have helped to lessen the impact, analysts say.
"The size of the shadow inventory continues to shrink from peak levels in terms of numbers of units and the dollars they represent," says Anand Nallathambi, president of CoreLogic. "We expect a gradual and progressive contraction in the shadow inventory in 2013 as investors continue to snap up foreclosed and REO properties and the broader recovery in housing market fundamentals takes hold."
Source: “'Shadow Inventory' Threat Continues to Recede, CoreLogic Says,” AOL Real Estate (Jan. 2, 2012)