Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Clippings, February 15-20, 2012

KUNC: Feb 16, 2012
Ryan McMaken, an economist with the state Division of Housing, says while that’s a good sign, it’s not clear yet how the recent multi-state, multi-billion dollar foreclosure settlement will impact that trend.

“I’m now hearing that a lot of these servicers had been holding back a little bit in terms of foreclosure processing as they waited for the outcome of the Attorney General’s agreement, the settlement that came down last week. And so now some people are expecting those numbers to come up a little bit.”

Denver Business Journal, February 16, 2012
“Foreclosure filings during January fell to levels well below any other January since 2008, and this continues a trend of diminished foreclosure filings activity that we’ve been seeing since the fall of 2010,” Ryan McMaken, a spokesman with the Colorado Division of Housing, said in a press release. “In year-over-year comparisons, foreclosure filings have now fallen for 14 months in a row, which suggests a well-established trend at this point.”

Sacramento Bee, February 16, 2012 (Associated Press)
Housing division spokesman Ryan McMaken says there have been some indications that lenders have been delaying foreclosure proceedings until after the deal was finalized.

Denver Post, February 16, 2012
January 2012's filings total was the lowest January total reported in five years, according to Ryan McMaken, a spokesman with the Colorado Division of Housing.

"Foreclosure filings during January fell to levels well below any other January since 2008, and this continues a trend of diminished foreclosure filings activity that we've been seeing since the fall of 2010," said McMaken.

Two commentary articles of mine were picked up by the Christian Science Monitor:

Hillary Clinton's new job: At the world bank?
Christian Science Monitor
By Ryan McMaken, Guest blogger / February 20, 2012 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a news conference at the State Department in ...

Spanish real estate bust leads to ghost towns
Christian Science Monitor
By Ryan McMaken, Guest blogger / February 17, 2012 A lone joggers runs past apartment blocks in Sesena in the Toledo Provence near Madrid, Spain.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Clippings, February 1-3, 2012

Denver Post, Feb 3:
New data released Thursday by the Colorado Division of Housing showed a vacancy rate of 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. That was down from 5.5 percent in the same period of 2010. The last time the fourth-quarter vacancy rate was lower than 2011's was in 2000, when it hit 4.7 percent.

Division of Housing spokesman Ryan McMaken said that the fourth quarter normally is a "high vacancy quarter."

"Usually if anybody moves out, no one moves in," McMaken said

"The overall median rent in the Denver area has now increased year over year for eight quarters in a row, and the median rent has increased by almost $60 over that time," McMaken said. "The rent growth we're now seeing is more robust than what we saw during the last expansion between 2002 and 2008."

Denver Business Journal, Feb3

The Q4 rate -- the lowest for the quarter since 2000 -- was up from the third quarter’s 4.9 percent vacancy percentage, but vacancy rates tend to rise in the fourth quarter from earlier in the year, said Ryan McMaken, division spokesman and economist.

Boulder County Business Report, Feb 3
"The overall median rent in the Denver area has now increased year over year for eight quarters in a row, and the median rent has increased by almost 60 dollars over that time," Colorado Division of Housing spokesman Ryan McMaken said in a news release. "The rent growth we're now seeing is more robust than what we saw during the last expansion between 2002 and 2008."

Colorado Springs Gazette, Feb 2
For the first seven months of 2011, the reduction in filings was largely because of lenders who slowed their processing of notices in response to criticism they received the previous year for allegedly reckless handling of foreclosure paperwork, said Ryan McMaken, a Housing Division spokesman.

However, the final five months of the year saw a stabilizing of home sale prices and other slight improvements in the housing market, which contributed to the overall reduction in foreclosure activity, he said.

In 2012, McMaken expects another reduction in foreclosure filings statewide, although not as dramatic as last year’s.

Lenders who delayed some of their foreclosure filings last year might turn around and ramp up their activity this year, McMaken said.Yet, “there’s enough slowly returning strength” in the housing market so that overall filings in 2012 should continue to decline, he said.

Loveland Reporter-Herald, Feb 2
Ryan McMaken, a spokesman for the state Housing Division, said the slowdown can't be attributed completely to improvements in the real estate market. "Many lenders slowed down the processing of foreclosures during the first half of 2011 to deal with legal issues," McMaken said in a press release.

He added, "Nevertheless, we do know that mortgage delinquencies are down and that home prices are stabilizing, so that also helped to push down foreclosure totals."

Denver Business Journal, Feb 2
“Foreclosures really slowed down during 2011, but not all of that was due to improvements in the real estate markets. Many lenders slowed down the processing of foreclosures during the first half of 2011 to deal with legal issues,” Ryan McMaken, spokesman for the Division of Housing, said in the new report.

“Nevertheless, we do know that mortgage delinquencies are down and that home prices are stabilizing, so that also helped to push down foreclosure totals,” McMaken added.

Denver Post, Feb 2
"Foreclosures really slowed down during 2011, but not all of that was due to improvements in the real estate markets," said Ryan McMaken, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Housing. "Many lenders slowed down the processing of foreclosures during the first half of 2011 to deal with legal issues.

"Nevertheless, we do know that mortgage delinquencies are down and the home prices are stabilizing, so that also helped to push down foreclosure totals," said McMaken.

...

Although foreclosure filings have fallen for the past two years, foreclosure activity remains at unusually high levels, said McMaken.

"Foreclosure sales at auction have basically been flat for the past five years and totals are still twice what we'd consider to be normal," said McMaken. "We expect more progress to be made in 2012, although the task of dealing with the existing inventory of properties in foreclosure is likely to extend beyond this year."