There are 74 homes in Multnomah County coming up for sale at auction next week.  The combined unpaid balance on the loans is $15,764,16.

• 13 were foreclosed on by Wells Fargo
• 19 were foreclosed on by Mortgage Electronic Registration*
• 5 were foreclosed on by Bank of America
• 3 have NW addresses
• The average unpaid balance is $213,029
• The highest unpaid balance is $1,564,197
• The lowest unpaid balance is $51,485
• All 74 were foreclosed on in July
• The average length of ownership was just under six years
• The majority do not list the interest rate of the first mortgage.  Of those that do, most are in the sixes.  The highest was 8.64%
• Rates today on a 30 year fixed are around 4.25%

The list does bring up the question of the oft stated “shadow market” of houses that banks are rumored to be holding onto for the right moment to sell.  From the looks of the list, 90 days pass and they send them to market.  Banks aren’t in the business of being homeowners.  It also serves as notice that banks aren’t holding off on foreclosure sales in the Portland market.

* “MERS is an innovative process that simplifies the way mortgage ownership and servicing rights are originated, sold and tracked. Created by the real estate finance industry, MERS eliminates the need to prepare and record assignments when trading residential and commercial mortgage loans.”  MERS becomes the owner of record but the underlying bank can sell the mortgage to another company without it going through tax records.