How do these changes affect Fort Lauderdale Real Estate?

After a consistent three year low, American home foreclosure activity significantly slowed this past April allegedly due to faulty paperwork. With a significant drop of 8.6 percent from March, and a jaw dropping one third decrease since last year, banks swept up 69, 532 homes this April – a drastic difference from the climbing statistics we have seen in the past few years.

In fact the amount of foreclosures fell to a nominal 219, 258 last month alone – maintaining a seven month decline that proves to be the lowest level since December of 2007.

Before the real estate boom became a bust in 2005, banks foreclosed a mere 100,000 homes. This year alone, banks have accumulated roughly 285, 000 homes thus far with an estimated 850,000 foreclosures by the end of 2011.

This year’s real estate foreclosure estimate was expected to rise above the million plus homes that were seized last year. However with current investigations into the overall foreclosure process, temporary halts from several mortgage servicers last year have hindered the steady increase.

There is talk of a multibillion-dollar settlement over foreclosure abuse between U.S. banks and the government. Negotiations are said to be underway with sate attorney generals and huge mortgage lenders, such as JPMorgan, Chase and Bank of America. These banks and mortgage brokers are thought to have foreclosed on thousands of homes without proper paperwork, leaving borrowers unnecessarily without homes.

Interestingly enough, a mere 10 states are to blame for more than 70 percent of all U.S. foreclosures: Florida, California, Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Nevada, Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Colorado. This recent discovery may not come as a surprise to South Florida, where an unspeakable amount of foreclosure activity has Fort Lauderdale home and condo owners upside down. Locally the Fort Lauderdale real estate market has noticeably struggled, with rental and home sale going for a fraction of the cost they once were.

Even in residential communities like Wilton Manors, real estate foreclosure has taken it’s toll on these South Florida homes.

With recent developments in foreclosure statistics, real estate in South Florida is more hopeful than ever to see a turn of events.