The National Association of Realtors announced today that delinquincies are up 17.6% from this time last year.  Also foreclosures are at its highest level since 1985 up a total of 6.4% for the month and a total of 53.7% from this time last year.

The pending home sales number which gauges the amount of homes under contract but not closed was unchanged for last month but is down 19.6% from last year at this time.  What this means to you is that the housing market is most likely going to continue to deteriorate because of the mortgage industry.  They are in the process of re-evaluating home values across the country and marking them down as much as 30% in some areas.  This trend is showing that more homes under contract are being kicked back to the negotiating table because the appraisals are coming in substantially lower than the sales price.  If the seller doesn't agree to lower the price or the buyer doesn't decide to come up with the additional cash to put down, the deal falls through.

In this tough time we are recommending many of our clients to consider the lease purchase solution.
For both buyers and sellers there are many advantages to renting with the option to buy.