10 homes a day taken by banks

Mortgagee sales are soaring, with one expert predicting almost 10 homes a day will be taken by banks. With mortgagee sales predicted to hit 250 a month, struggling homeowners are being urged to front up to their bank manager.

Tell the bank you are in financial strife before you miss a payment, says Darryl Evans, chief executive of Mangere Budgeting Service. "It's harder to turn the situation around when it's extreme."

Without a rescue plan involving the bank, people risked having their home sold from under them, he said.

James Young of Auckland University real estate research said people paying a high proportion of their income in mortgage payments - usually first-time buyers - were most vulnerable to mortgagee sales, as were those who had lost their job or had their hours cut.

Evans said there were ways homeowners could stay in their properties depending on how much work they wanted to put into it, and "lots of options providing you put your hand up and say you need help".

To read the full NZ Herald article click here

Posted: 26 Jul 2009

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