Courthouse-step auctions offer 1,336 properties in foreclosure -- 17 are sold

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Bargain houses largely unsold

Courthouse-step auctions offer 1,336 properties in foreclosure -- 17 are sold

By J.N. SBRANTI

last updated: December 15, 2007 04:23:07 PM

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/152921.html

Another foreclosure record was set in November as 1,336 properties were offered to the highest bidder on the courthouse steps in Modesto, Merced and Stockton.

Now here's the real surprise: Only 17 of them sold, despite lenders offering deeply discounted prices.

Every weekday, starting about noon, auctioneers seek buyers for foreclosed properties of all shapes and sizes. But more times than not, no one bids.

That's because foreclosed homes typically have unpaid mortgage debt far in excess of their current value. When no bidder is willing to pay off that debt, lenders usually get stuck owning the homes. That happened 411 times in Stanislaus County last month, sticking lenders with more than $139 million in unpaid mortgages, according to ForeclosureRadar, which tracks mortgage defaults. Of the 419 Stanislaus County homes that went to foreclosure auctions in November, only eight attracted bidders.

[ThomWV]

1. Let the fucking free market take its toll on the banks and investors.

Yeah, right.

[proud patriot]

2. The watching of the impending collapse

is a total trip x(

To live during these times :( I say can we complain to
the reincarnation tour guide or something? :think: