Ominous sign for stricken homeowners

Property website Realestate.co.nz says mortgagee sales are on the rise again, and the worst may not yet be over.

Over the past three years, the site had been tracking properties listed for mortgagee sale and said in the last quarter the number of stricken homeowners was once again on the way up.

Latest figures of transactions compiled by Terralink showed there were 202 mortgagee sales in June, down from 260 in May and 289 the previous June.

Mortgagee sales peaked at nearly 350 in September last year.

But the website believed what had been a steady downward trend was now reversed.

It recorded 250 mortgagee listings in May. That rose to 321 this month, said chief executive Alistair Helm.

Eleventh-hour settlements over properties were sometimes reached so it wasn't possible to tie listings to sales one-for-one. "[But] it's a good indicator of what the supply side is doing," he said.

To read the full NZ Herald article, click here

Posted: 26 Sep 2010

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