Dennis Norman Musings

Dennis Norman

This past week the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision issued a joint report on mortgage performance for 4th quarter 2008.
The report indicates there were 15,395 short sales  in the fourth quarter of 2008 an increase of 178% from the 5,523 short sales in the first quarter of 2008. 

The report shows there were 107,211 completed foreclosures during 4th quarter, down 23% from the 3rd quarter which had 140,168.  The 4th quarter results still shows a 29% increase from the 83,136 completed foreclosures during the first quarter of 2008. 

I think an investor could conclude from these figures that there are opportunities out there to buy properties via short sales, however with the number of foreclosures still high they will continue to have an effect on values in the markets affected, as as usual, my advice is to act with caution.