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 2010
King: 1,297 NTS, up 63% YOY
Snohomish: 624 NTS, up 48% YOY
Pierce: 727 NTS, up 52% YOY
Here’s your interactive Tableau dashboard updated with the latest foreclosure data:
Foreclosure notices are still rising fairly rapidly year-over-year. Nothing much more to say, since it’s just more of the same thing we’ve been seeing for years now.
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 629 households, Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 437 households, and Pierce had 1 NTS for every 433 households (higher is better).
According to foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac, Washington’s statewide foreclosure rate for August of one foreclosure for every 158 housing units was 14th worst among the 50 states and the District of Columbia (same as July and August). 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:
All three counties have backed slightly off their June and July highs, but not to a significant degree that makes me think we’re seeing the beginning of a new long-term trend just yet.
Please resist the urge to get into the subject of the national foreclosure processing mess in the comments on this post. I am working on a post dedicated to that subject for tomorrow, so save your remarks for then. Thanks!
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.