from Minyanville:
Seriously Delinquent Homeowners Undermine Hopes of a Market RecoveryBy Keith Jurow May 23, 2011 9:00 am
The percentage of homes with a notice of default, where the owner has not made a payment in more than two years, is now 30% of all defaulted properties.According to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey released in mid-February of this year, nearly half of all nationwide home purchases in January 2011 involved a distressed property -- either a foreclosed home or a short sale. Their January distressed property index reading of 49.5% was up from 47.2% in December and was the highest level since March of 2010.
This index rose in spite of cutbacks in the sale of repossessed homes last fall by servicing banks because of the robo-signing mess. Short sales continued to climb because most banks finally concluded that it was in their interest to accept a short sale offer rather than go through the time, expense, and complications of foreclosing and then selling the property.
As bad as this distressed property index is, it hides what is going on with the “shadow inventory” about which I have written extensively. Take a look at this amazing chart from Lender Processing Services.
![](http://image.minyanville.com/assets/FCK_Jan2011/Image/LisaCatchMAY2011/ke1.jpg)
The percentage of homes with a notice of default (NOD) where the owner has not made a payment in more than two years has risen steadily since January 2009. It is now 30% of all defaulted properties. At the end of 2009, it was a mere 10%. Many of them are “walkaways” who have stopped making the mortgage payment in spite of having the financial means to do so. ...........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/housing-market-delinquent-homeowners-housing-market/5/23/2011/id/34704?camp=featuredslide&medium=home&from=minyanville