BOSTON – The Massachusetts foreclosure pipeline will take more than six years to clear out, The Boston Herald reported Monday.
The newspaper cited a study by LPS Applied Analytics, which looked at public records to estimate that it could take until at least 2017 to clear out all homes currently in foreclosure.
Banks are seizing deeds on about 788 Massachusetts properties per month, even though 58,957 homeowners are either in the foreclosure process or are at least 90 days behind on mortgage bills.
“It’s certainly going to be a weight hanging over the industry for several years to come,” said Herb Blecher of market tracker LPS Applied Analytics.
At that pace, it would take 6.25 years to retake titles on all “at risk” Massachusetts properties – which does not includes houses that fall into delinquency between now and 2017, nor properties which bank have seized deeds for but haven’t evicted the residents or resold the home.
Blecher said the risk of a large number of delinquent homes hitting the market is that it drives down home prices. Nevertheless, it is not likely to take that long once the U.S. economy and housing market improve and help some avoid foreclosure.
Massachusetts’ backlog pales in compassion to New York’s, however, where LPS estimates it would take 58 years to clear, according to The Boston Herald.
