Here’s your October update on Foreclosure activity in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. First up, the Notice of Trustee Sale summary:
October 2008
King: 643 NTS, up 82% YOY
Snohomish: 331 NTS, up 128% YOY
Pierce: 603 NTS, up 84% YOY
The graphs below 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, refer to this post.
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.
First let’s look at the number of Notices of Trustee Sale scaled in terms of number of households per foreclosure (based on household data for each county from the American Community Survey, assuming linear household growth between surveys):
King County came in at 1 NTS per 1,211 households, down from 1 per 2,169 in October 2007 and 1 per 1,281 in September 2008. Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 789 households, down from 1 per 1,784 in October 2007 and 1 per 882 in September. Pierce broke below the 1 NTS for every 500 households barrier, coming in at 1 per 489, down from 1 NTS per 891 households a year ago and 1 per 549 a month ago.
For comparison, the latest press release from RealtyTrac—whose definition of foreclosure includes Notice of Default, Auction, Notice of Trustee Sale, and Real Estate Owned— shows King County with 1 foreclosure for every 652 housing units, Snohomish at 1 foreclosure for every 445 housing units, and Pierce with 1 foreclosure for every 236 housing units. Their report puts the nationwide rate at 1 foreclosure per every 452 housing units, and Washington’s statewide rate at 1 foreclosure per every 631 housing units.
Following are charts of King, Pierce, and Snohomish County foreclosures from January 2000 through October 2008, with uniform y-axis scales to provide easier comparison. Click below to continue…
Foreclosures shot up again in King County, reaching their second-highest level ever, still short of July’s level of 730.
Similar story in Snohomish County, where October’s 331 NOTs were just barely shy of the record 355 set in July.
Down in Pierce County they easily set another new record, with October coming in with over 10% more foreclosures than July, the previous record month. Ouch.