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VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM of the five largest brokerages in the Tucson MLS, the main listing service for Pima County. Pima County has the second largest volume of foreclosures when compared to other Arizona counties. Prices in Phoenix Get Boost from Thinning Foreclosure Inventory trends nationally via public property records, reported Phoenix home prices continue to rise while investment activity appears to be slowing down with the metro's dwindling supply of foreclosed homes. According to DataQuick's report, the DataQuick, a firm that tracks real estate number of Phoenix-area homes lost to foreclosure from January to August totaled 19,998, a decrease of 49.5 percent from the same period a year earlier. Month-over-month, however, foreclo- number of bank-owned properties on the market has fallen dramatically, leading to fewer distressed sales. Phoenix homes that were foreclosed on in FROM THE BENCH the prior 12 months made up just 19.3 percent of all existing homes sold in August. It's the lowest distressed share of home sales since January 2008. In July, 19.5 percent of resales in the Phoenix area were foreclosures and a year ago that percentage was 47.6. At the March 2009 peak, foreclosed homes accounted for 66.2 percent of the resale market in Phoenix. KNOW THIS sures are rising. Lenders foreclosed on 3,060 Phoenix-area houses and condos in August— a 30.2 percent jump over the month before, yet the number of foreclosures is down 25 percent from a year earlier. DataQuick says absentee buyers account- ed for 39.7 percent of Phoenix's home pur- chases in August, down from 41.7 percent the month before and 44 percent a year earlier. The company also found absentee buyers paid more in August, with their median price up to $119,000, compared to $118,500 the month before and $97,000 in August 2011. Cash purchases of Phoenix-area homes were reported at 40.2 percent in August, a drop from 42.6 percent in July and 42.2 percent 12 months earlier. The record-high for cash-buys was 48 percent in February 2011. Cash buyers paid a median $119,000 in August, up from $117,000 in July and 40 percent higher than their median of $85,000 a year earlier. Overall, Phoenix home prices continued their streak of increases in August, with buyers paying a median $154,119 for all new and resale houses and condos. That's up 2.7 percent from July and 30.2 percent from August 2011, according to DataQuick. Even though the report showed a significant an- nual increase, August's median price was still 41.6 percent below the metro's peak price of $264,100 in June 2006. DataQuick attributed the median price's yearly increase and a surge in the sale of higher-cost homes as reasons for the "rela- tively low supply of homes for sale." The real estate data provider also pointed out that the Phoenix home prices are projected to rise 22% over the next three years, Local Market Monitor forecasts, bested only by Houston, Texas, and Boise, Idaho, where the company predicts price increases of 26% and 27%, respectively. Arkansas rank: 33 90+ Day 4.53% 3.40% 33.4% 90+ Day 5.08% year ago 4.15% percent point change 22.4% 31.5% Top Core-Based Statistical Area MEMPHIS, TN-MS-AR 90+ Day 6.55% year ago 6.57% percent point change -0.4% -17.7% note: The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90- plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the August 2012 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary August 2012 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. 3.16% Delinquency Rate august 2012 2.60% Foreclosure Rate STAT INSIGHT REO and pre-foreclosure short sales closed during the second quarter of this 290 year in Arkansas, comprising just 7.83% of all home sales over the period. Source: RealtyTrac 75 4.64% Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate august 2012 2.09% year ago 1.92% percent point change 9.0% Top County CLAY COUNTY Delinquency Rate august 2012 6.10% Foreclosure Rate Unemployment Rate 7.3% 8.1% -9.9% Arkansas Judge Dis- misses Recording Fee Suit Against MERS that an Arkansas judge dismissed the record- ing fee suit filed against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., (MERS) by a Hot Spring County circuit clerk. In the class action suit (Brown v. MERS) In late September, Merscorp announced filed on behalf of Hot Spring County and all circuit clerks in Arkansas, the plaintiffs alleged that MERS, along with a host of lenders who were also named as defendants, deprived counties in the state of recording fees they should have paid. The plaintiffs argued the defendants had a duty to record every mortgage transfer "and to record them truthfully." U.S. District Judge Susan O. Hickey, in citing Arkansas law, held that the state's statutes do not require assignments to be re- corded and went on to explain that the origi- nal intent behind mortgage land recording was to give constructive notice to subsequent purchasers. Hickey ruled that the defendants were not required to record their mortgages, and therefore had not deprived the counties of recording fees. Following the ruling, Janis Smith, VP of corporate communications at Merscorp, said, "As clearly described in this ruling, record- ing statutes are intended to give subsequent purchasers and lenders notice of recorded liens and to allow creditors to give notice of their secured interest in the property. Use of the MERS system to register mortgage loans fulfills the purpose of the recording statutes." Smith further explained that MERS mortgages are recorded in public land records, and MERS members pay recording fees when the mortgage is recorded.

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