ForeclosureS.com: Pacific Coast Housing Begins Shift to Buyer's Market; Defaults Rise.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- ForeclosureS.com, a California based investment advisory firm and national publisher of foreclosure property listings, reported today that Pacific Coast housing markets were slowing, with price declines in some formerly hot markets in California, and that foreclosure activity was poised to increase.

"We're seeing reduced price appreciation in the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska although population growth and job growth there remain strong," said ForeclosureS.com president Alexis McGee. She added that while the pace of home price increase in Hawaii had slowed slightly, annualized price appreciation year over year was still above 20%.

"As these markets cool down, we'll begin to see mortgage defaults increase in 2006," said Ms. McGee. She went on to say that a slowing market produces a buildup in the inventory of unsold homes, an increase in time on market, and make it more difficult for financially distressed homeowners to sell their way out of foreclosure.

She noted that personal bankruptcy filings had increased in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska toward the end of 2005. "Filing bankruptcy is a common tactic used by financially distressed homeowners to forestall foreclosure. It has disastrous consequences for their credit profile, and while it won't fully stop a foreclosure, it does buy some time."

She said that several overheated California markets were beginning to correct with prices declining slightly in the North, and slowing sales and less price appreciation in the South and that defaults were rising.

"A great many risky loans were issued in California as home prices reached the stratosphere," Ms. McGee pointed out. "Interest only and option ARMs were used by many buyers to qualify for homes they could not otherwise afford. That means trouble in the near and intermediate future."

ForeclosureS.com has been publishing foreclosure information and assisting investors since 1992 and went nationwide with foreclosure listings of distressed property in late 2005.

"We teach our investor clients the fundamentals of successful foreclosure property investing, and show them how to create ethical win-win scenarios that benefit both the troubled homeowner and the investor," said Ms. McGee. "Our method enables the homeowner to conserve some equity for a new start, while assuring the investor of a reasonable profit on resale of the home. That's a much better solution than seeing the owner lose everything at auction."