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At the end of July, there were more people who signed contracts to purchase real estate for the second month in a row. However, this rise is not quite enough to foreshadow a recovery in the housing market. The National Association of Realtors said that the index of purchase agreements for previously-occupied houses grey 2.4 percent in June, ending at a reading of 90.9. An index reading of 100 is considered by economists to be "healthy." The housing market hadnt reached a level that good since April 2010, which was the last month for the first-time homebuyers tax credit. Since theres usually a one-to-two-month interval between when a contract is signed and when its closed, contract signings are usually quite a reliable gauge of where the market is headed. It is incredibly important, however, to remember that a sale is never final until the closing has occurred. NAR says that its more and more commonplace for a buyer to back out of a contract after the appraisal has proven that the home is worth less than the current purchase price.

Home prices are the lowest theyve been in some time, but that and low mortgage rates arent doing much to increase sales activity. Economists argue that it still could be many years before we see a true recovery. Chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc., Joshua Shapiro says, "In absolute terms this is a very depressed level, and with prices in most areas either still declining or flat, there is little incentive for buyers to be aggressive." Although we had growth in contract signings in May and June of this year, it still doesnt make up for a huge decline in April when contract signings had declined 11.3 percent.

Previously-owned home sales dropped for the third straight month in June and are way behind 2010s sales pace when home sales numbered 4.91 million the least number sold since 1997. If we were truly in a healthy and recovered economy, we would be seeing about six million existing home sales per year. The Standard & Poors/Case-Schiller home-price index that was released July 26th demonstrated that out of the 20 cities covered, 16 of them had increases in the non-seasonally adjusted prices mostly due to a flood of spring buyers. The index reports that seasonally-adjusted prices have decreased 1.2 percent over the last six months approximately one-third of the drop from the six months previous.

One reason for this could be that there are thousands upon thousands of foreclosures hanging in limbo most waiting for the results of a government-run investigation into lenders shoddy paperwork. It is expected that once the investigation is concluded, banks will start seizing more homes, forcing home prices to drop again. Economists argue that the increase in unemployment coupled with doubts over the foreclosure process could create more price drops in the second part of the year. Analysts say prices will drop another five to ten percent by the end of 2011.

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According to Justin Rand, the senior vice president of loss mitigation at CitiMortgage, loan providers are stressing the process of streamlining the short sale process in hopes of avoiding foreclosure. In 2009, the short sale process took 120 days from start to finish. However, since brokers and borrowers have worked together to abridge it, the short sale process now only takes 83 days. At a panel for the REO Expo Conference held in Fort Worth, Texas, at the beginning of this week, Rand reported that for CitiMortgage borrowers, over 16% of loans in delinquency are currently in a short sale program. This figure has increased over 12% over the last two years.

Incentives on CitiMortgage loans are also now being offered to homeowners who are suffering from financial hardships and are in need of funding to complete the short sale process. This incentive would provide a set-upon amount that would be distributed to the seller when the short sale is completed. Many things factor into closing a short sale, but just like a loan modification, the key thing to a successful closing is getting all the needed documentation in order in a timely fashion. The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program helped this problem by decreasing the number of required documents. Rand says that back in 2009, it took up to 30 days to gather all the needed documentation. Now theyre down to less than ten days. He adds that "a lot of time, for [the] seriously delinquent loans, all we need is just a letter of authorization from the homeowner."

Bank of America operations executive David Sunlin says Bank of America completed more short sales than REOs every month for the last 1.5 years. Bank of Americas short sale department has grown to over 3,000 people from just 150. Every employee there conducts around 75 individual cases. Sunlin bragged, "Were past the point where were bumbling around losing files." While that remains to be seen, Rand argues that back in 2009, they started a "proactive approach," which includes combing through several local Multi-List Services and reaching out to agents and owners who were sinking in mortgage debt. Rand ends by declaring, "Were not going to turn anybody away if the short sale meets the net requirement were looking for."

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Preserving your credit history, credit score or improving your financial history may not be at the top of your mind if you are a homeowner facing foreclosure. But you really need to consider the alternatives available that could help you avoid foreclosure. It is true that 7 out of 10 homeowners faced with foreclosure don't see anyway to improve their situation or avoid foreclosure. They may not be aware that there are alternatives available. Sitting back and letting foreclosure happen is not the best option!

Many distressed home sellers don't want to talk about foreclosure, are embarrassed by it, have no hope that it can change, or think it will change on its own with time. All these thoughts lead to foreclosure. We want sellers to know that there are infact opportunities out there to avoid foreclosure, including short sales. The advantages of avoiding foreclosure are huge! They will affect your credit score, credit history and financial situation now and even further into the future. The chart below is designed to inform sellers of all of those advantages of short sales vs. foreclosures.

Distressed sales statistics for Metro Denver including stats for short sales and foreclosures. Advantages and disadvantages between loan modifications, short sales and foreclosures

According to the National Association of Realtors, "Distressed homes were at 32 percent of sales in June, compared with 31 percent in May; it was also 31 percent in June 2009" (www.realtor.org). Loan modifications and short sales have increased because many homeowners are struggling to make their mortgage payments, have no equity in their homes, or are facing foreclosure. Denvers distressed sales are not as high as the national averages but they still have an impact on the Denver market. The chart below shows the number of distressed sales over the last year in the Metro Denver area.

When facing foreclosure, it is important to know that you have some options. Lets talk about some of these options and their advantages and disadvantages.

Loan Modifications - The government has designed many programs to help Americans avoid foreclosure. These programs have helped some, but can be difficult to negotiate, timely to obtain, and not everyone qualifies.

Short Sales - A short sale is a Real Estate sale in which the proceeds of the sale do not cover the balance of the current home loan. The lender may agree to accept less than what is owed on the property. This allows the seller to sell the property and avoid foreclosure. The sellers credit will still be damaged, but it will be minimized in comparison to a foreclosure. After a short sale, one will have to wait about 2 years before purchasing another home.

Foreclosures - When a seller is unable to pay their mortgage and the bank becomes the owner through the foreclosure process, the sellers credit is highly damaged - more so than with short sales and loan modifications. After a foreclosure, it can take 2-5 years before one can purchase another home.

Source: Denver Metrolist. Based on Information from Metrolist, Inc. for the period 7-1-2009 through 7-31-2010. NOTE: This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by Metrolist, Inc. Metrolist, Inc does not guarantee nor is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by Metrolist, Inc. may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.