Charleston foreclosure trends, May 14, 2008
If you read the newspaper or turn on the television or check your news via the Internet, rising foreclosures is certainly one of the top stories. With all the bad news you would think that everyone in the country should be packing their stuff in anticipation of a knock on the door by the Sheriff.
Katy Stech of the Post and Courier had the front page and inside spread of the big business section Monday on the rising popularity of short sales and to her credit, she painted a sobering picture that it was more easily said than done. The Tuesday newspaper was filled with 5 pages of announcements, the biggest ever and interestingly, I noticed a couple of real estate agents among those who are losing either homes or investments.
The courthouse steps in downtown Charleston are filled with hopeful buyers and curious onlookers on those days when foreclosed properties are auctioned off. Despite the numbers of available properties going through the Master in Equity's office, only a few bids are actually being accepted by the bank to be made available for sale at a later date. So much for those trying to "steal" a property.
Today, as always in mid month, is the release date for RealtyTrac's monthly foreclosure data and the headline just screams of blood in the streets. I kind of get the feeling that the folks at RealtyTrac are kind of like the people at the Weather Channel; hoping for bad news or bad weather because nobody really pays attention when it's sunny and nice out.
The sobering statistics. Foreclosures jump 65% from a year ago. No surprise there but they now have a nifty graphic to showcase the gory statistics.
The good news for Charleston and South Carolina real estate is that our ranking is now 41st, better than 35th last month. There were a total of 662 filings, actually down from last month and one home in 2984 was foreclosed upon last month. The bad news is that there will be more.
Click here for the complete report. No change among the leading states, it's Nevada, California, Florida, etc. continuing to have serious issues. But word from several of my friends in Arizona indicates that once the properties are actually being listed, activity has been brisk, inventory is declining, prices of course are declining as a result of the mix of properties being sold and the end hopefully appears to be in sight. South Carolina may be a little later in the process but don't expect anything as severe in the Charleston area as those hotbeds of rampant speculation.