Foreclosures Rising In Colorado

Posted in Foreclosures, December 17th, 2007 |

According to the Colorado Division of Housing 7,117 Colorado foreclosure homes were sold at foreclosure auctions since January 2007. During the first quarter the total was 5,586 and during the second quarter it rose to 6,322. Each state has different foreclosure laws. In Colorado a unit can be sold at auction to a third party or the lender after 45/60 days from the date of filing the foreclosure notice.

During the first three quarters of this year 19,025 houses in Colorado have been sold at foreclosure auctions. In 2006, during these three quarters 15,112 units had been sold. 2007 has seen the highest number of sales since the Department of Housing has been keeping track of numbers from 2003.

Foreclosure is a legal process involving many steps. There is the possibility that all the numbers filed do not end up in auction sales. In the first, second and third quarters of 2007 the number of foreclosure filings were 9,443, 10,017 and 9,500 respectively. During the first three quarters of this year 28,960 filings had been listed. In 2006 the total number during this same time period was 28,435.

The information has been collected from County Trustee offices of Colorado. Foreclosure numbers decreased in the third from the second quarter in Adams, and Denver counties by 22% and 17% respectively. The trend was slowing down also in Pueblo and El Paso Counties. But in Weld, Jefferson and Boulder County it rose by 15%, 8% and 28% respectively.

The foreclosure crisis was triggered off by the housing boom, which had been fueled by a frenetic buying of houses by taking easy loans from the sub-prime mortgages. Some were genuine borrowers who did not understand the implications of low rates but were interested in improving their socio-economic status by owning houses. Many were speculators and investors who were sanguine that house prices could never tumble down. But when more and more borrowers found it impossible to cope with increased rise in interest houses began to foreclose. When the numbers reached jumbo figures the lenders realized that they had chewed more than they could digest. It became a giant crisis affecting both society and economy. Politicians became alarmed and all heads got together to sacrifice some scapegoats and work out a viable solution – at least for the time being. Perhaps the slowing down is partially due to this move but the overall trend is not good.