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Foreclosures Continue Rapid, Unexplained Decline

Posted on January 12, 2012February 6, 2012 by The Tim

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:

December 2011
King: 345 NTS, down 61% YOY
Snohomish: 161 NTS, down 65% YOY
Pierce: 228 NTS, down 54% YOY

Foreclosures keep falling, but I’m still not convinced that there isn’t some abnormal external factor that’s unnaturally forcing them to fall this far, this fast. Perhaps some combination of the state legislation, national modification programs, and the whole robo-signing mess?

Here’s your interactive Tableau dashboard updated with the latest foreclosure data:

Powered by Tableau

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 2,404 households, Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 1,700 households, and Pierce had 1 NTS for every 1,410 households (higher is better).

According to foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac, Washington’s statewide foreclosure rate for December of one foreclosure for every 1,438 housing units was 32nd highest 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:

Powered by Tableau

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.

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Next Post:
December Stats Preview: Inventory Erasure Edition
Previous Post:
A Look at WA SB 6337 “Protecting Short Sale Sellers”

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