The nation's leading mortgage lenders have lifted their recent foreclosure suspensions and begun to move those borrowers that are ineligible for federal programs on through the property repossession process.  These foreclosures will soon hit the market, 3-4 months from now.

Where are these foreclosures coming from?

According to a Wall Street Journal report, many major banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac all have increased foreclosure activity over the past few weeks. There was a temporary halt in foreclosure proceedings due to foreclosure moratoriums that were instituted at the urging of lawmakers and regulators when Obama came into office.  The intent was to give homeowners time to see if they were eligible for any Obama Administration mortgage relief plans.

This moratorium suspended 10s of thousands of homeowners from the foreclosure process.  Now that moratoriums have been released, there is a built-up of foreclosures that need to work through the system, meaning they will eventually hit the real estate market.

According to Alexis McGee, president of the foreclosure tracking company ForeclosureS.com, these delayed foreclosures from lenders' moratoriums, coupled with rising unemployment, could distress the housing market's recovery.

McGee said, "Hopefully, this is a short-term surge caused by months of delayed foreclosures. This is a very troubling turn after seeing some bright spots earlier this year."

According to ForeclosureS.com's March report, 175,199 U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure last month - a new monthly record and up 44 percent from the record high set in February - reflecting lenders' renewed foreclosure activities. The company's data shows a 76 percent increase over repossessions in the first quarter of 2008, nearly 370,000 properties.

And there's more to come - ForeclosureS.com reported that pre-foreclosure filings during the first three months of 2009 topped 600,000, their highest quarterly level since the foreclosure crisis began.

Investors be on guard as the foreclosure properties available to be purchased may soon increase, providing some good options for long term investing.

some content from DSNews

What impact do you think this foreclosure increase will have on the local real estate market?