Friday, February 10, 2012
“The numbers tell the story” as home foreclosures decline throughout the state, according to the latest figures released by Eugene-based Gorilla Capital

Note to Editors and Reporters:The following news release contains statewide foreclosure numbers for the Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates. News releases with county-specific data are forthcoming. Reporters on deadline may request immediate county-specific figures by calling (541) 344-7867.

EUGENE, Ore. – Home foreclosures in January were down by 22 percent from the previous month and down 44 percent from a year ago, say officials with Eugene-based Gorilla Capital. In 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla operates, there were a total of 577 notices of default recorded during the first month of 2012 – down from 743 in December 2011 and down from 1,027 in January of 2011. A notice of default is the official beginning of the foreclosure process. Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, January 12, 2012
Notices of default declined significantly in 2011, according to
the latest numbers released by Eugene-based Gorilla Capital

Note to Editors and Reporters: The following news release contains statewide foreclosure numbers for the Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates. News releases with county-specific data are forthcoming. Reporters on deadline may request immediate county-specific figures by calling (541) 344-7867.

EUGENE, Ore. – The results are in from 2011, and it’s clear that Oregon’s real estate market is on a path of recovery, say officials with Eugene-based Gorilla Capital. In 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla operates, there were a total of 12,027 notices of default filed in 2011 – a 30 percent decrease from 2010 when 17,120 notices of default were recorded. A notice of default is the official beginning of the foreclosure process.

“Oregon foreclosure totals for 2011 represent a significant decrease from the previous year,” said John Helmick, Gorilla Capital CEO. “The numbers peaked in 2010 and declined in 2011. We are forecasting continued decreases and a leveling off in 2012, absent any government intervention that might disrupt the market’s natural recovery.”

In late 2011 Helmick rightly predicted that the year would close with a 30 percent decrease in notices of default. Other notable foreclosure statistics include the following:

• There were 743 notices of default in December 2011 in 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates, a decline of 36 percent from December 2010 when 1,163 notices of default were recorded.
• Six counties – Coos, Crook, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas and Polk – all recorded year-over-year decreases of at least 49 percent from December 2010 to December 2011.
• Deschutes County, a county that was hit particularly hard by foreclosures in 2009-2010, showed the biggest annual decrease in notices of default. The county recorded 2,365 notices of default in 2011, a decline of 37 percent from 2010 when 3,764 notices of default were filed.
• All 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates saw declines in notices of default from 2010 to 2011.

In looking at month-to-month numbers in Oregon, there was a slight but statistically insignificant increase in notices of default. The state recorded 813 notices of default in 17 Oregon counties in December 2011, as compared to 796 in November 2011, a 2 percent increase. The biggest decreases in month-to-month numbers occurred in Curry, Douglas and Crook counties, which saw decreases of 40 percent, 36 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

Some say the 40 percent drop has more to do with a moratorium and short sales than an improved market

By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard
Thursday, Jan 12, 2012

Lane County foreclosure filings dropped by more than 40 percent in 2011, compared with the previous year, according to a national foreclosure tracking firm. But people familiar with the local housing market aren’t ready yet to say the market’s recovered, although they concur that foreclosures are decreasing, for a variety of reasons.

Some say the reduction in filings is because federal investigations brought foreclosures to a halt early last year — and the numbers will increase again in 2012.

Others say banks are OK’ing more short sales so homeowners can get out of bad financial situations by selling at a loss and avoiding foreclosure.

“The job market hasn’t changed that much, at least not in Oregon,” Gorilla Capital CEO John Helmick said. “We’re simply running out of bad loans to foreclose on.” Eugene-based Gorilla specialized in buying foreclosed homes, fixing them up and reselling them.

Lane County foreclosure filings fell to 1,379 last year, 42 percent lower than 2010, according to RealtyTrac, a California-based firm that tracks foreclosures nationally.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tanja was awarded as one of The Register Guard’s Up and Coming Business Leaders in Eugene-Springfield area this month. The below links are to articles on this award and Tanja’s accomplishments:

Community Leaders: Awards Banquet Honors Young Lane County Professionals

Tanja Baker

By Kate Berry, American Banker

September 9, 2011

Freddie Mac said it will not dramatically discount its backlog of foreclosed homes, arguing that such steep price cuts could destroy the housing market.

The government-sponsored enterprise told investors this month that it is currently selling 90% of its real estate-owned properties at asking prices and is not considering “significant discount pricing,” according to a letter obtained by American Banker.

Such discounts could help Freddie rid itself of its backlog of foreclosed homes. But dumping so many properties at once could also drive down housing prices broadly and harm the greater economy, a Freddie spokesman told American Banker.

“We absolutely don’t want to tank the housing market,” spokesman Brad German said. Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, September 05th 2011 11:47am

The troubled housing market is ground zero for our struggling economy. An Oregon company that tracks foreclosures in the state, says we may have hit bottom. Since 2007, more than five million Americans have lost their homes to foreclosures or short sales. Some economists estimate another five million may lose their homes before the crisis is over. John Helmick with Gorilla Capital, that tracks foreclosures in Oregon says its important many of these foreclosures go through. “So while government is trying to help people avoid foreclosure, their actions are only extending the foreclosure crisis by keeping home prices down, more people are entering foreclosure.” Helmick believes we are at the bottom when it comes to foreclosures in Oregon. He says for the last fifty years, when median home prices are around three times the median household income, that’s when the housing market stabilizes.

Click here to see the story

David Nogueras | August 22, 2011 | Bend, OR

Foreclosures in Central Oregon continued to drop last month. Now a Eugene-based company that buys foreclosed homes at auction seems prepared to call it a trend.

Gorilla Capital doesn’t track foreclosures in the Portland metro market. But it does in 17 Oregon Counties.

CEO John Helmick says 14 of those saw a decrease or no change in month-to-month notices of default. That’s the filing that starts the foreclosure process. In Benton, Jefferson and Klamath counties notices of default dropped 62 percent or more. Moreover says Helmick, year over year filings have dropped in every county Gorilla operates in. Helmick believes the market is beginning to run out of the no-money-down, loosey-goosey mortgages that fed the housing boom.

“The bad loans were made in 2005, 2006, 2007 and a little bit in 2008. And those are the loans that are ones that are being foreclosed on,” Helmick said.

Hemlick says while the market is improving, he thinks a full recovery might remain elusive as long as unemployment remains high.

© 2011 OPB

Click here to see the story

Monday, August 22nd 2011 10:27am

A Eugene company that tracks foreclosures across the state saw them drop again in July. Gorilla Capital says in July in Deschutes County, notices of default were down 22%. John Helmick with Gorilla Capital says these latest numbers are a good sign. “What I like is year over year all the numbers are going down. From July 2010 to 2011, its down 64% in Crook County, down 54% in Deschutes County and its down 78% in Jefferson. Of the 17 counties, where Gorilla Capital tracks foreclosures, 14 counties saw a decrease or no change in month to month foreclosure filings.

Click here to see the story

8/10/2011
By Jes Burns

Foreclosure rates in Oregon dropped by nearly 30% between June and July.  Eugene-based Gorilla Capital says Benton, Jefferson and Klamath counties saw the greatest declines in foreclosure filings.   But Coos, Josephine and Lincoln counties all saw increases.

In a statement, Gorilla Capital CEO John Helmick said this is all part of a trend towards fewer foreclosures that began last fall.  July’s 623 statewide foreclosure filings is a 50% drop from that month last year.

But According to realty Trac, oregon still has a higher than average rate – with one in every 600 housing units being foreclosed on in June.

Click here to see the story