The peak in the West (which was particularly hard hit and accounted for a lot of distress) was a few years ago. Now Satan Claws has come to the Northeast...

Everything is local in the R.E. market -- fortunately for yours truly, the foreclosure peak was delayed by 2-3 years in judicial states like NJ, NY, and VT, where rubes that got suckered into overly-high mortgages have to go through the court system before (justifiably) being kicked out of their homes. Process takes a few years, they're still processing nebbishes who didn't pay what they owed in 2010, so the vultures are only now coming home to roost. Add to that a refreshingly brutally honest fat fawk of a NJ governor who's obstructing any attempt to bail the idiots and freeloaders out, and you have a lot of "opportunity." Bonus points for some of the homes being vacant for a year or more, so they end up scaring off the average buyer w/o construction/reno experience.

Caaaw. Caaaaaw. Caaaaaaaw!