Let’s expand on our preview of foreclosure activity with a more detailed look at June’s stats in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. First up, the Notice of Trustee Sale summary:
June 2009
King: 1,378 NTS, down 14.7% YOY
Snohomish: 746 NTS, down 8.7% YOY
Pierce: 811 NTS, down 22.8% YOY
Here’s your interactive Tableau dashboard updated with the latest foreclosure data:
The year-over-year numbers are somewhat misleading here, since as you can see, foreclosures saw an extreme spike in June of last year (thanks to WA SB 5810). Month-to-month, all three counties saw big surges, +26% in King and Snohomish and +10% in Pierce. King and Snohomish hit their highest points outside of last June, as Pierce fell just short of setting a similar record (March this year had 3 more notices than June this year).
The percentage of households in the chart above is determined using OFM population estimates and household sizes from the 2000 Census. King County came in at 1 NTS per 591 households, Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 361 households, and Pierce had 1 NTS for every 391 households (higher is better).
According to foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac, Washington’s statewide foreclosure rate for June of one foreclosure for every 133 housing units was 25th worst among the 50 states and the District of Columbia (down from 20th in May). Note that RealtyTrac’s definition of “in foreclosure” is much broader than what we are using, and includes Notice of Default, Lis Pendens, Notice of Trustee Sale, and Real Estate Owned.
Hit the jump for a larger version of the chart that shows the percentage of households in each county receiving a foreclosure notice each month:
Maybe we’re finally seeing that big second wave of foreclosures that I had been reading so much about. It will be interesting to see if this ramp-up continues throughout the second half of the year.
Whether or not we see a continued spike in the rate of foreclosures, there do not appear to be any factors in the underlying economic fundamentals (home prices, demand, unemployment) that suggest we will be seeing a significant decrease in the rate any time soon.
Note: The graphs above are derived from monthly Notice of Trustee Sale counts gathered at King, Snohomish, and Pierce County records. For a longer-term picture of King County foreclosures back to 1979, hit this chart and drag the date slider to its full range. For the full legal definition of what a Notice of Trustee Sale is and how it fits into the foreclosure process, check out RCW 61.24.040. The short version is that it is the notice sent to delinquent borrowers that their home will be repossessed in 90 days.