Foreclosure Tsunami. Proof of the Coming Real Estate Collapse.

Interview with foreclosure tracker Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac on whats the chance that what he calls a tsunami of missed mortgage payments will abate anytime soon.

Bulk of bank-owned homes aren’t even on the market yet “Banks to unleash flood of REOs” at Inman News looks at the effect of foreclosures on the housing market this year:

Inventories of unsold homes are likely to swell in coming months as lenders begin to push a growing backlog of repossessed homes up for sale — often in communities already awash in distressed properties….

Because it can take weeks or months for lenders to put repossessed homes on the market, the impact of real estate-owned (REO) properties on inventories lags behind foreclosures. Government efforts to recapitalize banks through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and other bailout measures may also have taken some of the heat off of lenders to unload REO properties at fire-sale prices.

But with the emphasis of TARP and other government relief efforts now expected to shift to creating jobs, helping troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure and providing incentives for home buyers, lenders could soon unleash a torrent of real-estate owned, or “REO” properties — even in markets already flooded with an oversupply of homes for sale.

“It’s almost like a tsunami — you can see it coming and you know it’s going to hit but you can’t get out of the way,” said Ann Stickel, vice president of affiliated services with Sarasota, Fla.-based brokerage Michael Saunders & Co.

So how many bank-owned properties aren’t even on the Multiple Listing Service yet? RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga puts the number at 75%. That’s a lot of houses.