The Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy of New York University today issued a report on the last 15 years of foreclosed properties in New York City.
The report indicated that "of the more than 100,000 New York City properties that entered foreclosure between 1993 and the first half of 2009, the vast majority were 1-4 family buildings: 34 percent were single-family homes and 50 percent were 2-4 family buildings."
The median time from when the borrower purchased the home to the filing of a lis pendens was just under three years, according to the report. "Beginning in the early 2000s, however," it continued, "with the rise of subprime lending and the increase in buyers taking out risky (and sometimes multiple) loans, the length of time between an initial purchase and a foreclosure filing became even smaller. Of the foreclosure filings issued in 2007, the median time between the initial sale and the LP was only 1.5 years. In fact, a full 30 percent of the filings in 2007 were on properties that had been owned for less than one year."
"Because an LP is filed only after a borrower is delinquent on her mortgage for more than 90 days," the report continued, "this figure represents a troubling number of borrowers that defaulted almost immediately after acquiring their homes. Fortunately, that trend appears to have slowed: in 2008, 12 percent of foreclosure filings were issued on properties that had been owned for less than a year. However this is still a much higher percentage than it has been in the past; in 1993, only 3 percent of foreclosure filings were issued on properties that were purchased less than a year earlier."
The study noted that for properties that received a lis pendens in 2007 only 14 percent were sold by the homeowners in arms-length transactions by the end of June, 2009 and only 4 percent transferred ownerships because of divorce settlements or estate sales in the same time frame and only 2 percent were sold at auction to third-party bidders in the same time frame and that 12 percent of such properties in that time frame ended up as real estate owned by banks.
Almost 14 percent of the properties in this time period had not been sold or completed the foreclosure process and "perhaps surprisingly, 54 percent of the properties that received an LP in 2007 had not, by the end of June 2009, been sold or completed the foreclosure process, and had not received an additional LP," the report noted.
The report indicated that "of the more than 100,000 New York City properties that entered foreclosure between 1993 and the first half of 2009, the vast majority were 1-4 family buildings: 34 percent were single-family homes and 50 percent were 2-4 family buildings."
The median time from when the borrower purchased the home to the filing of a lis pendens was just under three years, according to the report. "Beginning in the early 2000s, however," it continued, "with the rise of subprime lending and the increase in buyers taking out risky (and sometimes multiple) loans, the length of time between an initial purchase and a foreclosure filing became even smaller. Of the foreclosure filings issued in 2007, the median time between the initial sale and the LP was only 1.5 years. In fact, a full 30 percent of the filings in 2007 were on properties that had been owned for less than one year."
"Because an LP is filed only after a borrower is delinquent on her mortgage for more than 90 days," the report continued, "this figure represents a troubling number of borrowers that defaulted almost immediately after acquiring their homes. Fortunately, that trend appears to have slowed: in 2008, 12 percent of foreclosure filings were issued on properties that had been owned for less than a year. However this is still a much higher percentage than it has been in the past; in 1993, only 3 percent of foreclosure filings were issued on properties that were purchased less than a year earlier."
The study noted that for properties that received a lis pendens in 2007 only 14 percent were sold by the homeowners in arms-length transactions by the end of June, 2009 and only 4 percent transferred ownerships because of divorce settlements or estate sales in the same time frame and only 2 percent were sold at auction to third-party bidders in the same time frame and that 12 percent of such properties in that time frame ended up as real estate owned by banks.
Almost 14 percent of the properties in this time period had not been sold or completed the foreclosure process and "perhaps surprisingly, 54 percent of the properties that received an LP in 2007 had not, by the end of June 2009, been sold or completed the foreclosure process, and had not received an additional LP," the report noted.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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