Right on schedule, as home price declines in Seattle really start in earnest, foreclosures begin to “soar.”
Seattle-area foreclosures were up 54 percent in August from a year earlier, according to a new report.
The area, defined as King and Snohomish counties, had 1,185 properties with foreclosure filings, up 15 percent from July, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., company that tracks foreclosures.
The area’s rate of one filing for every 906 households put it 133rd out of 230 areas RealtyTrac ranks, up from 147th in July.
Statewide, properties with filings were up 64 percent from a year earlier and 15 percent from July. Washington’s rate of one filing for every 851 households put it 21st among states, up from 26th in July. U.S. foreclosures were up 27 percent from a year earlier and 12 percent from July, with one in every 416 households receiving a filing.
Also note coverage in the Everett Herald:
Snohomish County no longer seems immune from the wave of foreclosures that have affected homeowners nationwide, as the number of filings last month rose 39 percent compared with a year ago.
Across Washington, foreclosures rose by 64 percent last month, while the growth in filings across the nation was only 27 percent, according to RealtyTrac Inc. That national number was significantly lower than in previous months.
“There were some areas that were insulated a little bit before that are now catching up,” said Daren Blomquist, spokesman for RealtyTrac.
I guess we had plenty of folks jumping into dangerous loans here in the Puget Sound afer all.
(Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I, 09.12.2008)
(Eric Fetters, Everett Herald, 09.12.2008)