Foreclosure-flipping investors have been boosted a little by a Federal Housing Administration decision to allow government-backed mortgages for houses bought and sold within 90 days. That's one new thing making it easier for investors to bring foreclosed properties back into the land of the living — a Chron story today profiles the growing trend, and the role that investors are playing in snapping up foreclosures. In December 2008, 833 houses at foreclosure auctions were bought by investors; a year later, the number was 2,648. Investors are being pushed toward foreclosures because of a lack of solid properties on the listed market (crappy prices as they are), plus there's still that rumored "shadow inventory" of foreclosures lurking in the back alleys of the real estate market and ready to be converted into mortgage-paying citizens. Now, the FHA turnaround means it's ready to back flippers, recognizing that "investors already are playing a key role in bringing foreclosures back to sale."
· Investors dominate home flipping, auctions [SFGate]
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