Thursday, March 15, 2012

Housing News Digest, March 15

Colorado metro foreclosure starts rise in February (Denver Post)
New foreclosure filings and sales in Colorado's 12 most populated metro counties rose in February from January, according to a report Wednesday from the Colorado Division of Housing.

Lenders filed 2,056 new foreclosure cases in February, up 6 percent from the 1,939 filed in January and 3.5 percent from the 1,986 started in February 2011, according to the state report.

The metro counties recorded 1,248 foreclosure sales, up 8.5 percent from the 1,150 completed in January and down 6.7 percent from the 1,338 foreclosure sales in February 2011.

Another foreclosure wave hits (Pueblo Chieftain)
Pueblo County reported a 12 percent increase in filings in February with 95 filings, up from 85 a year ago. Mesa County led the state with a 32 percent increase.

Year to date, filings in Pueblo still lagged last year's rate with 197 this year compared with 211 last year, according to the Pueblo County Public Trustee's office.


Rising Rate Of Foreclosure Filings In Colorado (KKTV)
In El Paso County, however, February foreclosure filings were up 4.5 percent from last year. They were up nearly 12 percent in Pueblo County.

One Colorado Springs Home currently under foreclosure is on the 800 block of Skyway Boulevard. Four years ago, it sold for $205,000. Now it has been foreclosed and is on the market for $70,000 less.

The filing of foreclosure represents the start of the legal process, and sales represent the final stage. Not all filings need to reach that stage and, in fact, the Division of Housing says that the total number of completed foreclosures is usually smaller than the number of filings.

Foreclosure sales down in February (NCBR)
In Larimer County, foreclosure sales decreased 4.7 percent from 64 to 61 year-over-year in February. Weld County saw a drop of 18.3 percent from 109 to 89 in the same period.

Foreclosure filings were mixed in the region, with the number increasing by 12.6 percent in Larimer County from 103 to 116 year-over-year in February. The number of filings decreased in Weld County by 17.4 percent from 132 to 109 in the same period.

Foreclosure sales at 5-year low in Colorado urban counties (DBJ)
In February, the counties with the largest changes in foreclosure filings, year over year, were Boulder and Broomfield counties, where filings decreased by 23.5 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Mesa County, on the other hand, reported a 32.1 percent increase in foreclosure filings during the same period.

Colorado Foreclosures Up Slightly (KUNC)
While new foreclosure filings rose 3.5% last month for most Front Range counties - Boulder and Broomfield counties reported significant decreases. Mesa County saw the largest increase in new filings, at 32%.