Shadow Inventory

The number of distressed properties not currently listed on multiple listing services stood at 1.6 million as of October 2011, according to CoreLogic. This shadow inventory is approximately half of the industry's visible inventory, the company says, meaning for every two homes available for sale, there is one home in the "shadows." CoreLogic's latest shadow inventory assessment represents a supply of five months and is down from October 2010, when it stood at 1.9 million units, or 7-months' supply. http://www.dsnews.com/articles/for-every-two-homes-sale-there-is-one-in-shadows-2011-12-21  Currently, Florida, California, and Illinois account for more than a third of the shadow inventory, CoreLogic reports. The top six states, which would also include New York, Texas, and New Jersey, are home to half of the shadow inventory.

Fitch Says 7M Homes in the Shadows Will Take 40 Months to Clear

Fitch Ratings puts the industry's shadow inventory - meaning loans that are seriously delinquent, in foreclosure, or REO - at 7 million homes. The agency says based on recent liquidation trends, it will take more than 40 months to clear this distressed inventory. While the volume of newly delinquent mortgages has begun to improve, liquidation rates have been constrained by weak demand and initiatives to modify loans. On top of that, Fitch says the recent discovery of defects in the foreclosure process is prolonging the housing correction.

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/fitch-says-7m-homes-in-shadows-will-take-40-months-to-clear-2010-11-01

S&P: $460B Shadow Inventory Will Take 41 Months to Clear

It's no secret that the volume of distressed residential properties is weighing heavy on U.S. housing markets and prolonging any meaningful recovery. Of even greater concern is the industry's growing backlog of homes that need to be liquidated and resold but have yet to make their way to the market. Standard & Poor's has just released a new report in which it estimates that the principal balance of this shadow inventory now stands at $460 billion and will take the industry about 41 months to clear.