CHESSNOID

The Dow crossed the 10,000 mark and companies are profitable. Yet, the economy doesn’t seem to reflect this.  The economists have declared the recession is over, but other than stocks going up from their lows there is not much to demonstrate that in job creation or foreclosure prevention.

The economy will not stabilize until the housing situation is resolved.  More foreclosures will weigh on the economy and prevent a true economic recovery.

There are 2 reports on foreclosures that came out today.  It is hard to figure out if they are talking about the same thing.  Just looking at the headlines is contradictory.

U.S. foreclosures fall 2nd straight month

Foreclosures: ‘Worst three months of all time’

Even after reading both reports, one can be easily be confused as far as if it is getting better or worse.  The first article points out the numbers are both up and down depending on which time period you compare the numbers to.

U.S. foreclosures fall 2nd straight month

U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings fell for a second straight month in September, but remained near a record high, amid ongoing and sweeping efforts to keep borrowers in their homes, a report released on Thursday showed.

Foreclosure filings — including mortgage default notices, house auctions and home repossessions by banks — were reported on 343,638 properties in September, down 4 percent from August, but up 29 percent from the year-earlier month, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said.

Reading the second report it simply sounds bad with no real recovery in sight. Amazing enough both articles get there numbers from the same source.

Foreclosures: ‘Worst three months of all time’

Despite concerted government-led and lender-supported efforts to prevent foreclosures, the number of filings hit a record high in the third quarter.

“They were the worst three months of all time,” said RealtyTrac spokesman Rick Sharga.

During that time, 937,840 homes received a foreclosure letter — whether a default notice, auction notice or bank repossession — according to RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed homes. That means one in every 136 U.S. homes were in foreclosure, which is a 5% increase from the second quarter and a 23% jump over the third quarter of 2008.

So is the economy better or worse? If you have a home and a job, then the economy is good for you. If you are looking for a job and struggling to keep your home, then the economy is bad. It is all relative as far as the economy recovering.

As far as the truth about foreclosures, the number is simply still rising but at a slower rate because of banks manipulating the system. Banks are stretching the foreclosure process even though they are not taking in income for those mortgages, and laying off employees to show a profit. The banks are not increasing revenues to generate those profits. They are gaming the system. Eventually, the truth will come out and their house of cards will fall on them. Let us just hope the government doesn’t use our tax money to bail them out AGAIN.