Foreclosures lag, consumer attitudes continue to sour

As we recently reported, foreclosure sales volume is down 31% while the average discount is up 32% and we the drumbeat here and elsewhere continues to sound “jobs, jobs, jobs.”

There has been an increase in foreclosure filings as well as sales this year, so Trulia and RealtyTrac teamed up to survey consumer attitudes and found that 58% of Americans expect the housing market to recover after 2012. Of those surveyed, 35% believe the robo-signing issue will delay a real estate recovery, and a paltry 6% think the robo-signing issue will have no effect on the recovery.

Attitudes toward foreclosures:

We found the following infographics pertaining to Americans’ attitudes toward foreclosures to be extremely interesting, especially those about people walking away from their homes…

Delays in the foreclosure process

Over time, with the number of foreclosures being processed and the robo-signing debacle, the length of time a home is in the foreclosure process has increased. The Wall Street Journal has posted an interactive map showing the time a homeowner spends in their home during delinquency and foreclosure.

We believe that with the rising number of foreclosures and the rising amount of time borrowers may spend in delinquency, the sentiment of Americans is tainted because most are either going through the foreclosure process or are close to someone who is which makes it difficult to see any promise of a recovery. As jobs increase in America and the pressure valve is loosened, we will see this negative attitude dissipate, but it’s difficult for most consumers to have a rosy outlook when they themselves or those around them are experiencing difficulties.