Time for our detailed look at foreclosure activity for January in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. First up, the Notice of Trustee Sale summary:
January 2009
King: 842 NTS, down 8.0% YOY
Snohomish: 450 NTS, down 2.8% YOY
Pierce: 550 NTS, down 19.2% YOY
Here’s your interactive Tableau dashboard updated with the latest foreclosure data:
Special Note: Tableau Software, the special sauce that powers the fancy interactive charts I have been featuring here on Seattle Bubble just launched their free online service: Tableau Public. If you dig data, or know someone that does, point them Tableau’s way. They’re a great local company (based in Fremont) and Tableau Public is a great product.
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 961 households, Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 596 households, and Pierce had 1 NTS for every 574 households (higher is better).
According to foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac, Washington’s statewide foreclosure rate for 2009 of one foreclosure for every 799 housing units was 28th worst 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 larger version of the chart that shows the percentage of households in each county receiving a foreclosure notice each month:
Although foreclosures are definitely at lower levels than they were last spring and early summer, there does seem to still be an upward trend that has persisted since the post SB 5810 drop-off.
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, refer to the final chart in 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.