LI Local Blog

Year End 2009 Lis Pendens Numbers

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:56:25 +0000

The full year numbers for foreclosure filings (Lis Pendens) are in. The table below shows the figures for the past 5 years.

The seemingly large jump between 2008 and 2009 is not a true indication of the year to year increase. As we have been reporting, there was a 4 month period at the end of 2008 in which there were very few new Lis Pendens filings, due to a new state law. The trend chart below presents a better picture of the growth rate of filings, which has been an increase of approximately 260 filings per month, every month.

These numbers vary dramatically from the recently released numbers from RealtyTrac. Their numbers refer to “some sort of foreclosure-related filing” and they quote the numbers as shown in the table below. In an effort to make a valid comparison, our numbers below show the homes that received Lis Pendens notices plus the homes that were ultimately lost by the homeowners due to the foreclosure action. It is obvious that there is something missing in the RealtyTrac counts.

We are constantly amazed at how the RealtyTrac numbers are so consistently far away from the real numbers. Our numbers are meticulously collected from the public records of Nassau and Suffolk counties, and they are screened for accuracy and appropriateness. Why would the RealtyTrac numbers be so far off? Recently, RealtyTrac was questioned about the large difference between our numbers and theirs. A spokesman replied that it could be because they collect the data only once a month, and they never report a Lis Pendens that has been reported in the past year. We do not understand how either of those responses could be the cause of such dramatic differences. We also do not report filings that we have reported already, and the number of repeated filings represents less than 0.5% of the totals. Although we have no knowledge of the accuracy of the rest of RealtyTrac’s numbers, it is certain that they do not correctly represent the Long Island picture. Below are the charts showing the monthly Lis Pendens filings and trends for Nassau, Suffolk and Long Island.

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

Good News/Bad News on the foreclosure filing front

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:50:38 +0000

First – the bad news -

As predicted, the 3rd quarter number of foreclosure filings (Lis Pendens) on Long Island has already surpassed the record set in the 2nd quarter with 8% of the filing periods still unrecorded.

We forecasted that the number could be greater than 5,600. It will definitely exceed that.

Lis Pendens Filings
Location	2009 Q1	2009 Q2	2009 Q3
Nassau County	1,233	1,853	2,067
Suffolk County	2,079	2,951	3,483
Long Island	3,312	4,804	5,550

Now – the good news -

As we last reported, the increased Lis Pendens activity was centered on a few lenders.

Particularly:

   BAC Home Loan Services (formerly Countrywide).

   JPMorgan Chase (including Washington Mutual).

   OneWest Bank (formerly IndyMac).

These 3 lenders combined have averaged 135 filings per week for the past 10 weeks, as opposed to 42 filings per week for the previous 80 weeks (since 1/1/2008).

Preliminary 4th quarter information is indicating that this filing barrage may be over.

Average Weekly Lis Pendens Filings (Since 1/1/2008)
Lender	1st 80 Weeks	Last 10 Weeks	Preliminary Q4 First Week
BAC Home Loans	13	45	15
OneWest Bank	14	70	12
JPMorgan Chase	15	20	7
Total	42	135	13

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

No letup in number of Long Island foreclosure filings

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:56:34 +0000

The foreclosure filings (Lis Pendens) on Long Island continue to grow at a record pace. The 3rd quarter total is already at 86% of the number of filings in the 2nd quarter, with less than 73% of the filing days recorded.

This rate, coupled with the fact that many of the major lenders typically post their greatest number of filings in the last month of the quarter, could bring the number for the 3rd quarter to over 5,600, or an increase of 17% above the 2nd quarter (which had the highest number ever recorded).

Lis Pendens Filings
Location	2009 Q1	2009 Q2	2009 Q3
Nassau County	1,233	1,853	1,513
Suffolk County	2,079	2,951	2,634
Long Island	3,312	4,804	4,147

Recent increases in filing activity by some of the major mortgage lenders have contributed significantly to these numbers.

Particularly:
BAC Home Loan Services (formerly Countrywide) has more than tripled its filings in the last 3 months (500 vs. 160).

JPMorganChase (including Washington Mutual) has more than doubled (397 vs. 178).

OneWest Bank (formerly IndyMac) has increased by 73% (521 vs. 301).

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

2nd quarter Long Island Lis Pendens filings highest ever

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:06:24 +0000

The total number of 2nd quarter Lis Pendens filings on Long Island was 4,804. This is the highest quarterly total ever recorded.

The previous high was 4,325 in the 2nd quarter of 2008.

Both Nassau and Suffolk exceeded their previous highs which were also in the 2nd quarter of 2008.

Lis Pendens Filings
Location	2007 Q2	2008 Q2	2009 Q2
Nassau County	1,126	1,617	1,853
Suffolk County	1,726	2,708	2,951
Long Island	2,852	4,325	4,804

It is difficult to plot meaningful trend lines, due to the law changes in August 2008. These caused a change in the filing times of Lis Pendens, as can be seen in the charts below.

The charts show the trend line up to and including the month of August 2008, including individual trend lines for each year.
We also show new trend lines as of the beginning with March 2009.

It is easy to see the current upward trend began in 2006 and has not shown any sort of reversal.

NOTE: The Suffolk County chart includes July 2009, since all Suffolk Lis Pendens filings for July have been recorded.

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

Second Quarter Median Price Rise – by Township

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:35:12 +0000

In last week’s post, we reported that the 2nd quarter rise in the median price of private homes and condos was greater than any 2nd quarter increase in the past 5 years. With another week’s worth of closings recorded and published, the percent of increase in the median price is holding steady, with a slight increase in the Nassau County figures.

Last week’s announcement resulted in several questions being asked of us; focused mostly on how the figures for the narrower markets compared to each other, and ultimately, to the overall market.

We recalculated the figures, breaking them down by township and grouping them as shown in the charts.

Each chart shows the 2nd quarter median price increase for the past 10 years.
The bars represent the overall Long Island Numbers. The lines represent the individual townships in the selected area.

The numbers show that in 7 of 12 Long Island townships (Shelter Island was not included due to the low number of closings), the 2nd quarter increase in median price was the highest since 2006.

The tables below list the percentage of change in the median price for all long Island townships, from the 1st to 2nd quarter of 2009, as well as the median sale price for each township.

Township	Change
Hempstead	0.00%
North Hempstead	7.69%
Oyster Bay	2.84%
Babylon	1.92%
Brookhaven	5.69%
East Hampton	20.79%
Huntington	5.27%
Islip	-0.80%
Riverhead	-5.41%
Shelter Island	-37.10%
Smithtown	7.23%
Southampton	25.49%
Southold	2.80%
Nassau	0.63%
Suffolk	6.06%
Long Island	3.29%

Township	Median
Hempstead	375,000
North Hempstead	560,000
Oyster Bay	435,000
Babylon	318,000
Brookhaven	290,640
East Hampton	806,250
Huntington	489,500
Islip	312,200
Riverhead	350,000
Shelter Island	780,000
Smithtown	445,000
Southampton	800,000
Southold	411,500
Nassau	407,035
Suffolk	350,000
Long Island	382,188

For complete information on Long Island sale prices, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

Long Island Home Sales Median Price Rises by 3.29% in Second Quarter

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:43:00 +0000

At the end of each quarter, we instinctively look for signs – positive or negative.

Although the 2nd quarter numbers are not completely filled in (at this point in a typical quarter, approximately 80% of the previous quarter closings are recorded and published),
the numbers point to an increase in the median closing price of private homes and condos.

A rise in the median price is typical in the 2nd quarter; however, this year’s increase is higher than any 2nd quarter increase in the past 5 years.

For example, the 2006 increase was 1.01%, whereas the 2009
increase is 3.29%.

The Long Island median price increase of 3.29% is driven almost completely by Suffolk County’s increase of
6.06%. Nassau County shows a minimal increase of 0.12%.

The median price in Suffolk County rose from $330,000 to $350,000, in Nassau County from $404,500 to $405,000, and on Long Island from $370,000 to $382,188.

For more information and details on the individual counties, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

Long Island home purchases fall to 3-year low Foreclosure closings rise to 3-year high

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:00:27 +0000

The number of weekly closings on private homes and condos on Long Island has fallen by 42.3% during the 29 month period beginning January 1, 2007. During the same period, the number of weekly foreclosure auction sales has risen by 133%.In January 2007, the average number of closings per week was 643, as opposed to 371 in May 2009. The average number of foreclosure auction sales per week was 18, rising to 42 in May 2009.
Note: Averages are based on standard trend formulas.

Over 88% of the foreclosure homes were taken over by the holders of the mortgage, indicating that the amount due on the mortgage was greater than the current market value of the property.

For more information and details on the individual counties, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.