Friday, May 14, 2010

REO Sales Outpace Foreclosures in Snohomish County


Where are all the foreclosures? Certainly not in Snohomish County. As a matter of fact, Snohomish County is holding up pretty well. There has been no flood of foreclosures or bank owned properties known as REO's to come on the market.

In fact the number of REO properties sold on the market in April 2010 exceeded the number of actual foreclosures for the same period.

For the 10 months shown in the graph above there were 1,851 foreclosures. Of those, 1,387 were sold on the open market. Approximately 10% sell at auction on the courthouse steps and the rest are listed for sale.

Currently there are 409 REO properties listed for sale, which is about a 3 month supply based on current sales rates of about 139 per month.

The Snohomish County real estate market continues to show stabilization along with median and average home prices.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Snohomish County Foreclosures Rates April 2010


The Snohomish County foreclosure rates for April 2010 indicate continued stress on homeowners' ability to make their mortgage payments. The increase in filing of Notice of Trustee Sales is partly due to Bank of America's announcement to step up it's process in foreclosing on homes that are delinquent in their mortgages.

A secondary reason is most likely "strategic defaults". Those are homeowner's willing to walk away from properties which they owe more than they are worth. Many are realizing that sacrificing their credit for a couple of years is worth it. Many homeowners are more than $100,000 underwater in their homes. These are mostly homes that were purchased at the peak of the market in 2006 and 2007.