Foreclosures in San Diego County Are Increasing
Foreclosures in San Diego County are increasing but the default notices are showing signs of dropping. Foreclosures across March spiked by 23% while defaults that start off the foreclosure process dropped by 12%. These figures were released by MDA DataQuick on Friday 22nd March 2009.
The figures surprised many pundits who had apprehended increase in default figures because the moratoriums had come to an end and servicers had stepped up their activities. The government has been putting pressure on the lenders to try alternative means to stop foreclosures.
Many of those who had been lagging behind in payments have started to default said economist Alan Gin of University of San Diego (Burnham-Moores Real Estate Institute). He said, “The surge in foreclosures was expected. The surprising thing is the notices of default.”
In April there were 903 foreclosure postings marking a spike of 23% over March but it was a decrease of 36% in comparison to April 2008. In April 3,371 defaults had been noted showing a fall of 12% from March but 2.2% increase year-over-year.
Gary London is an economist specializing in real estate. He analyzed that the fall in default numbers indicate that most probably foreclosure numbers too will fall over the following year. However without more facts and figures rolling in it is not possible to come to a definite conclusion.
The DataQuick April report noted a change in trends from the previous month. In March foreclosures had shot up by 40% from February 2009 but default notices had gone up by 10% – thus creating fresh records.
Andrew LePage of DataQuick said it was difficult to come to say anything finally about what will be the trend in future from this report on April. LePage said, “I don\’t think we are dealing with smooth trend lines anymore. It\’s pretty erratic. There is so much in flux.”
Most of the pundits however opine that the difficult days will continue. The economic weather is bad and it is this that has always traditionally guided the ups and down of foreclosure. Unemployment continues to be high. Although compared to past months default numbers have modestly declined it continues to be high when compared to historical standards. Le Page added, “Who knows how committed the major lenders are to loan modifications and how many homeowners will fight to stay with their house rather than just throw in the towel?”
Related Posts
