Whatcom County Auditor

Whatcom County foreclosure filings down, but problems linger

According to documents recorded at the Whatcom County Auditor's Office, 358 notices of trustee sales - typically the first stage of the foreclosure process - were sent out in the first six months of 2011, down from the same periods in 2010 (444 filings) and 2009 (519 filings).

The reason for the slowdown on a national level is paperwork and processing delays, according to officials at RealtyTrac, an online database for foreclosure properties. It's a similar situation here in Whatcom County, said Peter Roberts, a local real estate agent at John L. Scott Real Estate who has experience handling distressed property sales.

"It has little to do with less (distressed property) being out there and more to do with the process slowing down," said Roberts. "We're not through this yet."

According to RealtyTrac, Whatcom County had 19 bank repossessions in the month of June, down from 27 the previous month. Washington state had 1,695 bank repossession filings last month, up from 1,577 in May.

Nationally, 222,740 foreclosure filings took place last month, an increase of nearly 4 percent from May but down 29 percent from a year earlier. RealtyTrac estimates that as many as one million foreclosure actions that should have taken place in 2011 will happen in 2012 or later.

"This casts an ominous shadow over the housing market, where recovery is unlikely to happen until the current and forthcoming inventory of distressed properties can be whittled down to a manageable number," said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, in a press release accompanying the data.

Roberts said he expects local foreclosure numbers to start picking up again by the end of the summer as lenders continue to work through the paperwork of other distressed properties. As for the local real estate market in general, he's seen a stabilization of home prices in the under-$300,000 category.

"There are people buying if they believe there's a perceived value," said Roberts, who has seen multiple offers on homes considered to be priced correctly. "More sellers are also getting serious about the prices if they want to sell."

At the midpoint in 2011, Nevada, Arizona and California continued to post the top foreclosure rates. In Nevada, one in 21 housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in the first half of the year. Washington state ranked 15th highest, with one in 126 housing units receiving a filing notice.

Whatcom County foreclosure filings down, but problems linger ...

Whatcom County real estate foreclosure filing numbers are on the decline, but it is not a sign the distressed home problems in this area are getting better.

According to documents recorded at the Whatcom County Auditor's Office, 358 notices of trustee sales - typically the first stage of the foreclosure process - were sent out in the first six months of 2011, down from the same periods in 2010 (444 filings) and 2009 (519 filings).

The reason for the slowdown on a national level is paperwork and processing delays, according to officials at RealtyTrac, an online database for foreclosure properties. It's a similar situation here in Whatcom County, said Peter Roberts, a local real estate agent at John L. Scott Real Estate who has experience handling distressed property sales.

"It has little to do with less (distressed property) being out there and more to do with the process slowing down," said Roberts. "We're not through this yet."

According to RealtyTrac, Whatcom County had 19 bank repossessions in the month of June, down from 27 the previous month. Washington state had 1,695 bank repossession filings last month, up from 1,577 in May.

Nationally, 222,740 foreclosure filings took place last month, an increase of nearly 4 percent from May but down 29 percent from a year earlier. RealtyTrac estimates that as many as one million foreclosure actions that should have taken place in 2011 will happen in 2012 or later.

"This casts an ominous shadow over the housing market, where recovery is unlikely to happen until the current and forthcoming inventory of distressed properties can be whittled down to a manageable number," said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, in a press release accompanying the data.

Roberts said he expects local foreclosure numbers to start picking up again by the end of the summer as lenders continue to work through the paperwork of other distressed properties. As for the local real estate market in general, he's seen a stabilization of home prices in the under-$300,000 category.

"There are people buying if they believe there's a perceived value," said Roberts, who has seen multiple offers on homes considered to be priced correctly. "More sellers are also getting serious about the prices if they want to sell."

At the midpoint in 2011, Nevada, Arizona and California continued to post the top foreclosure rates. In Nevada, one in 21 housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in the first half of the year. Washington state ranked 15th highest, with one in 126 housing units receiving a filing notice.

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