Terralink has reported there were a record 3,024 registered mortgagee sales in 2009, up from 1,303 in 2008 and 475 in 2007 as forced sales spread from failed property developers to owner-occupiers. "Initially it was properties owned by overstretched investors and development companies that made up the bulk of mortgagee sales. As the recession deepened servicing multiple mortgages or gaining continuing access to credit became harder or impossible, and these owners were forced to sell," Terralink Managing Director Mike Donald said in a statement. "Later as unemployment began to rise we saw individual property owners increasingly feel the pinch. These owners often with only one property or what we think of as "˜mums and dad' home owners made up an increasing percentage of owners that were facing a mortgagee sale," Donald said.
"A mortgagee sale is often the last resort after a whole chain of events such as a job loss, loss of investments, or reduced cashflow in small businesses. That's why we expect it will be many, many months until the number of mortgagee sales drop to pre-recession numbers," he said. Donald said he did not expect to the number of mortgagee sales to start to decline significantly until at least the last quarter of 2010. A full report is available at zoodle.co.nz See our full interactive chart of mortgagee listings on realestate.co.nz and trademe.co.nz/property
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