John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... Foreclosure filings in the Denver area were down 28.2 percent in January from a year earlier, according to a state report released today.
The report by the Colorado Division of Housing shows that there were 1,939 filings last month, compared with 2,699 in January 2011 in the 12 largest counties in the state. That marks the lowest number of filings in a January in five years.
Foreclosure auction sales in Colorado’s metropolitan counties were down 23.3 percent in January compared to January of last year, dropping from 1,499 to 1,150. January 2012’s sales total was the lowest January total reported in five years.
New foreclosure filings fell year over year during January with total filings dropping 28.2 percent from 2,699 filings in January 2011 to 1,939 filings in January.
From December 2011 to January 2012, foreclosure filings fell 18.6 percent while foreclosure auction sales rose 18.8 percent. In recent years, foreclosure filings had tended to fall from December to January while sales have tended to rise during the same period.
14-month trend
“Foreclosure filings during January fell to levels well below any other January since 2008, and this continues a trend of diminished foreclosure filings activity that we’ve been seeing since the fall of 2010,” said Ryan McMaken, a spokesman with the Colorado Division of Housing. “In year-over-year comparisons, foreclosure filings have now fallen for 14 months in a row, which suggests a well-established trend at this point.”
During January, the counties with the largest decreases in foreclosure filings, year-over-year, were Douglas and Broomfield counties, where filings decreased by 44.5 percent and 40 percent, respectively. Larimer County reported the smallest decline in filings with a decrease of 16.7 percent from January 2011 to January 2012. All counties surveyed reported year-over-year decreases in foreclosure filings.
All counties except Broomfield showed decreases in foreclosure auction sales in January when compared to the same period last year. The counties with the largest decreases in foreclosure auction sales, year over year, were Douglas County and Boulder counties, where auction sales decreased by 49.6 percent and 36.5 percent, respectively. Mesa County reported the smallest decline in auction sales with a decrease of 2.5 percent from January 2011 to January 2012. Broomfield County’s sales total increased from three to 10 during the same period.
The county with the highest rate of foreclosure sales during January was Mesa County with a rate of 752 households per foreclosure sale. Adams County came in second with 948 households per foreclosure sale. The lowest rate was found in Boulder County where there were 3,621 households per foreclosure sale.
It is still unclear as to how the recent legal settlement between federal officials, state attorneys general, and mortgage servicers will affect foreclosure trends, according to McMaken.
“There have been some indications that some servicers have been holding back on foreclosure processing until the deal was final,” McMaken said. “But it’s hard to predict how that would pan out here in Colorado and whether that would be enough to reverse the present downward trend.”
County January 2011 January 2012 YOY percentage change
Adams 370 268 -27.6
Arapahoe 418 296 -29.2
Boulder 75 57 -24.0
Broomfield 25 15 -40.0
Denver 358 269 -24.9
Douglas 238 132 -44.5
El Paso 411 285 -30.7
Jefferson 250 191 -23.6
Larimer 120 100 -16.7
Mesa 118 93 -21.2
Pueblo 126 102 -19.0
Weld 190 131 -31.1
Total 2,699 1,939 -28.2
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com
I am still waiting for the “huge shadow inventory” to makes it appearance.
Great article John, but like Dave, I am sorta waiting for the other shoe to drop. But all we Realtors can do is to stay positive and keep working as the market comes back.