Arizona foreclosures are predicted to increase

RealtyTrac recently released a report here where they are predicting that foreclosures are going to be rising in the coming year.

This is pretty much in line with everything I have been hearing and expecting for the coming year.

These delays have been caused by the various legal issues that the banks have been going through in the past year. In particular the robo-signing practices. These legal issues have caused the banks to put a large delay on most of their foreclosures. We had seen old forecosures that were just sitting being pushed through the market, but not so many new foreclosures.

This delay in foreclosures has helped caused the reduced supply and scarcity of houses available on the market today. This scarcity has been a good thing for house prices, with most areas of the Phoenix area remaining stable and some areas showing price increases. However, with houses receiving 20 to 30 offers, and most houses under contract within a week, the scarcity is NOT a good thing for someone looking to purchase a house.

RealtyTrac has been seeing signs that this delay is coming to an end with the end of 2011. They are expecting 2012 to have more foreclosures than 2011, but to be less than the number of foreclosures in 2010.