More of the same. Almost exactly the same, as a matter of fact. Of the new listings last week in Greensboro’s nine residential zip codes, 17 were foreclosures. That represents about 13% of the total new listings.
That’s not a great number.
But it is, alas, the way things have been for the last several weeks. Earlier this year, we might see about 8% or 9% of new listings be foreclosures but the last 8 weeks have averaged 13.2%. The highest was four weeks ago when 15.3% of new listings were foreclosures. Gag.
The only thing that might be a bit encouraging is that the number really is fairly steady in the 13% range. At some point the number will come down. I won’t be standing on one foot waiting for it, but it will happen.
Another sad-but-true consistent stat is that two Greensboro zip codes – 27405 and 27406 – continue to have the lion’s share of
foreclosure: 44% cumulatively; 23% and 21% respectively. It should be noted, however, that back in October of 2009, these two zips had more than 50% of listed foreclosures. This may be an indication of foreclosures impacting more areas of town more than things really improving in those two zips. Is the glass half empty or half full?
I just know that sometimes looking at these stats make me reach for a glass totally full. Of gin.
An even less uplifting number is 185. That’s how many foreclosures have been listed in Greensboro in the last 12 weeks. That’s more than have been in any of the previous 3 months of running 12-week totals. It isn’t surprising that foreclosures continue to hit the market. Lenders have been working through back-logs of delinquent loans for months and they’ll keep on processing them for some time. It takes months of non-payment for a lender to foreclose, then months more for the paperwork to be slogged through, then more time yet to get a property listed.
What does all this mean to you, dear reader? It means there’s still a lot of shaking yet to go on in the real estate market. Frankly,
foreclosure listings will probably still be hitting the market for months after the unemployment figures rebound (for the previously mentioned time-frame reason).
So, I’ll keep watching and writing. You keep reading. And one of these days all of our glasses will be full.
Mine, probably still with gin.
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If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email. I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.
* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) as of June 29, 2010, and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities.
