Real estate market stabilizes after slump
The number of property foreclosures in Hamilton County fell for the fifth consecutive year during the first quarter, although the rise in loan volume did push up foreclosure notices and defaults across all of Tennessee in the first three months of 2015.
According to filings with the Hamilton County Register of Deeds, lenders foreclosed on 182 homes and businesses during January, February and March. That was only one less than the same period a year ago, but was half the peak number reached in 2010 amid the housing slump when 363 properties were lost to foreclosure in the first quarter in Hamilton County.
The online real estate tracking firm, RealtyTrac, said Wednesday that total foreclosure activity, including bank default notices and repossessions, declined by 8 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago. But there was some increase in filings that could push up foreclosures somewhat as lending activity continues to rise along with the overall economy.
Tennessee foreclosure filings were up in the first quarter by 38 percent, although RealtyTrac indicated that some of the numbers may not be comparable with those collected a year ago. In neighboring Georgia — one of the hardest hit foreclosure states in the country during and immediately after the Great Recession — foreclosure filings nationwide in the first quarter of this year were down by 25 percent.
Despite the nationwide improvement in the quarter, March’s filing increased from the eightyear low reached in February and were up from the prior year for the first time since 2010.
“The March increase is continued cleanup of distress still lingering from the previous housing crisis; not the beginning of a new crisis by any means,” Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said in a report released today on the foreclosure market. “Some of most stubborn foreclosure cases are finally being flushed out of the foreclosure pipeline, and we would expect to see more noise in the numbers over the next few months as national foreclosure activity makes its way back to more stable patterns by the end of this year.”
Even though Tennessee filings were up, the foreclosure rate in the Volunteer State remained below the U.S. average.
In the f irst three months of the year, one of every 520 properties in Tennessee were in some type of foreclosure process. Nationwide, one of every 421 households were in foreclosure. and in Georgia, one of every 466 households were in foreclosure during the first quarter of the year.
States with the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter were, in order, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Illinois, and New Jersey.
“Although they are dwindling, the REO (real estate owned properties take over by lenders) are not gone yet; for the astute investors and buyers, there are still some REO and distressed opportunities,” said Mike Pappas, CEO and president of the Keyes Co., covering the South Florida market. “This is as healthy a market as we have seen since the boom.”
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfree press.com or at 757-6340.