Lately we've been hearing from more people in the Madison area who are hoping to buy a foreclosure as an "instant equity", "fix and flip", or a long-term "buy and hold" investment. But the reality is that there just aren't that many foreclosures out there, which the numbers from the Wisconsin Circuit Court database make abundantly clear:
Will foreclosures rise from here?
We don't expect a significant rise in foreclosures anytime soon, and for three key reasons:
- Lending practices have improved significantly from the practices that preceded our nation's foreclosure crisis 15 years ago, so there just aren't that many bad loans out there.
- Most homeowners right now are locked into a low interest rate and a low monthly mortgage payment.