Foreclosure Industry Is Booming

Cecala said this is the first time since the Great Depression that the U.S. has seen foreclosures nationwide.

"I'm sort of pessimistic about the foreclosure outlook. We've seen this before on a regional basis and it's like a big oil tanker — it doesn't stop on a dime," he said.

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But Cecala noted that it may be a good time to buy a home. "I think we're going to see some upturn and significant improvement in the ability to buy houses and mortgage activity, starting this summer. You can only foreclose so quickly, and we haven't gotten through all the bad loans out there. There are a lot of people who are delinquent or sitting on the fence, waiting to see if a lender is going to foreclose on them or try to work out the loan or do something else."

At the county foreclosure auctions in Miami, there are more properties for sale than ever. Yet long-time buyer Luis Valdeon wasn't bidding. He said the banks are offering surprisingly few bargains, and is confident that will change soon.

"Banks will be so full of properties, they're going to be discounting them because they can't rent 'em, they can't do anything with them, so they're going to start lowering them," he said.

One of the few areas of growth in the economy these days is the foreclosure industry.