Foreclosure Auctions in Pinellas, Why Are The Banks Bidding So Much To Take Back Properties?

There have been 912 foreclosure auctions in Pinellas, St. Petersburg in March/April 2014 and of those foreclosure auctions, only 147 returned to third parties as part of the foreclosure process.  The rest..well, they returned to the banks.  Interesting, there are two big players that accounted for most of the purchases with the other sales…only a few purchases here or there.  So what’s happening with foreclosures?

Well, the most interesting thing is the inflated prices that banks are paying….paying in order to ensure they take back title to the properties they are foreclosing on.  Why?  Why are the banks working so hard to conclude foreclosure cases by taking the properties back…rather than getting cash for those properties?  The bidding reflects a healthy market of third party purchasers…but those purchasers are being priced out of the market by the banks.

Why would Wells Fargo pay $417,471 for a property that has a taxable value $260,000?

Here’s a great example….