Foreclosure activity increased 81% in 2008
RealtyTrac just released their 2008 foreclosure market report and foreclosure activity increased 81% in 2008 in the US. Let's look inside the numbers and look at the fact and fiction of what is happening with foreclosures across the country and here in the Charleston real estate market.
As you'll notice in the chart below, there were 1,339,061 foreclosures in just two states, California and Florida. That total was 42.4% of the 3,157,806 total foreclosures in the US. The large populations and more severe housing declines in those states tend to skew all the statistics and people are taking note of headlines based on that data being reported by the media.
Fact or fiction.
Housing prices across the country have not declined to 2004 prices although I did notice a legitimate listing for a home in Charleston (not a short sale) for slightly less than the price it sold for in 2003.
Housing prices across the country and certainly not in the Charleston real estate market have not declined by 40% or more in the past year. The Case-Shiller index is heavily weighted toward the largest and most distressed housing markets and even then, they are not reporting that kind of decline.
Charleston real estate and foreclosures.
The Charleston metro area ranked 64th of the largest 100 markets in the country with 3501 foreclosure filings in 2008 or 1.28% of all homes. South Carolina ranked 30th of the 50 states in foreclosure activity.
