You can't handle the truth

"You can't handle the truth!"  The words spoken by Colonel Jessup (Jack Nicholson) about the death of Santiago, a marine under his command, in the hit movie 'A Few Good Men' (1992), and the quote seems fitting here.  Why have I made such a bold statement?  Because I'm surprised at the number of people that continue to refuse to see the market the way it really is.  Not just consumers, but some of the analysts too!  They believe the spin (from the Wall Street Journal and other news venues) about the market having bottomed and sales are climbing.  The embedded video discusses the recently released foreclosure numbers for April (via Foreclosure Radar), as well as the implications these foreclosures will have on the market. Please take some time to view it.

Highlights:

• Notice of Defaults (NOD = pre-foreclosures) were up 2.6% to a record high of 44,100 from 42,700 last month.
  
• Notice of Trustee Sales (NTS = Foreclosure Notices) were up 7.8% to a record high of 28,892.
  
• Foreclosure Sales at Auction jumped 44% for a total of approx $9.5 Billion from $6.87 Billion last month.
  
• Discounts were at a record pace. 84% were discounted by 25% or more off the original note amount. 47% were discounted by a whopping 30% or more.
  
• 97.75% of the homes failed to sell at auction so the banks bought the rest back.
  

See his article in its entirety here.