King County Foreclosures Hit Lowest Levels Since 2008

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The rate of foreclosure filings dropped to their lowest point in nearly 3 years. Is this a sign that the worst is over? We think it is. But what does this really mean? We think that there are many people still struggling to meet their mortgage payments, but banks are working more to keep people in their homes through loan modifications and short sales.

There is also a new milestone in our graphs. Foreclosure "Notices" were lower than "Foreclosures" in the month of September. This is the first time ever that Foreclosures exceed the amount of Foreclosure Notices.

This trend is most likely due to two reasons:

1. Banks are only filing foreclosure notices on homes they are serious about foreclosing on;

2. With the enactment of the new Washington State "Foreclosure Fairness Act", it slows down the process and allows for homeowners to have "face to face" meetings with the bank to work out an agreement before moving forward with foreclosure.

The trend is also showing up in the Snohomish County foreclosure rates as Notices and Foreclosures continue dropping.