Record 1.9M Foreclosures in 2009 Despite Obama Plan . . . So Far!

More foreclosure news. . . the numbers are in for the first half of 2009. According to this Reuters story, 1.9 million foreclosures were filed on 1.5 million properties so far this year. The story does not explain the extra 400,000 foreclosures but certainly they involve multiple filings on the same properties. Ouch.

Here's the part of the story that impressed me:

One in every 84 households with loans got at least one foreclosure filing in the first half of this year.

"I don't think this suggests the economy is any worse than anyone expected but I certainly don't think it shows by itself any signs of improvement," Sharga said.

President Obama's housing rescue is gaining momentum in refinancing troubled borrowers with higher-rate loans and modifying untenable terms for others.

But the programs have been off to a slow start and in some cases will be too late or not enough to help severely struggling homeowners, industry analysts agree.

Private sector efforts to alter loans terms have made headway but are facing an uphill battle as the unemployment rate heads to double digits.

This article is unduly optimistic to say that President Obama's housing rescue is "gaining momentum." Notably, the reporter doesn't explain what facts lead him or her to conclude there is any positive momentum. I've said it before here, but it bears repeating: there will be no progress toward fixing the foreclosure problem until there is a fast-track way to evaluate properties for modification of principal, and not just putting people into different "creative" loans.

Most recently I've heard that the Obama administration is "floating" creative ideas like turning upside-down homeowners into "renters." The article I read suggested that bankruptcy judges would be given the power to determine and set the rental amount. It is not clear to me why this would be superior to letting the judge modify the mortgage, even in the eyes of lenders.