It’s time once again to expand on our preview of foreclosure activity with a more detailed look at September’s stats in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. First up, the Notice of Trustee Sale summary:
September 2011
King: 499 NTS, down 62% YOY
Snohomish: 259 NTS, down 59% YOY
Pierce: 317 NTS, down 56% YOY
Foreclosure notices fell to their lowest levels since 2008 in the Seattle area in September. Could this be the big drop we have been expecting as a result of the latest foreclosure legislation passed in Olympia? We’ll have to wait a few months to see if things jump back up once the effects of this legislation have been absorbed by the market.
Here’s your interactive Tableau dashboard updated with the latest foreclosure data:
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 1,657 households, Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 1,054 households, and Pierce had 1 NTS for every 1,012 households (higher is better).
According to foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac, Washington’s statewide foreclosure rate for June of one foreclosure for every 910 housing units was 20th hightest among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. 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.
Here’s a heat map of Washington counties from RealtyTrac:
[heat map removed since it started forwarding everyone to a RealtyTrac signup page]
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:
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.