Over the last couple of years I’ve been tracking foreclosure activity in Greensboro. At first, foreclosures were, while not unheard of in Greensboro, were rather few and far between. As a matter of fact, up until late 2008, our MLS didn’t have a designation for when a property was listed as a foreclosure sale. I, along with everyone else, had hoped that the real estate market and economy was experiencing a momentary, if jarring, correction.

Well, if hopes were calorie-free pizza, we’d all be skinnier.

Not only are foreclosed properties and the impact that have on communities and the real estate market here for a while, they’re becoming commonplace. Over the last twelve weeks in Greensboro, about 18% of all properties listed have been foreclosures.* That’s a lot.

Comparing the numbers to a year ago and even two years ago shows that the trend isn’t improving. It’s actually going in the wrong direction. For instance, this week last year there were 6 new foreclosure listings in Greensboro. The year before that, 12.

This year there were 16.

And the rolling 12-week totals, what I believe to be a better indicator of things, doesn’t provide a rosier picture. There were in deed many more foreclosures listed in the 12 weeks leading up to this time in 2009 (293) than this year (178) but this is more than last year (166). And it must be remembered that in 2009, these properties were just beginning to hit the market. In the early and last quarter 2010, there were halts to new listings while either the banks were trying to catch their breath or, later, trying to get their ducks in a row. All indications are that foreclosures are going to be coming online steadily for the next couple of years.

Alas, hoping things were different won’t make them so. Hunkering down is about all we can do.

Although pizza can sometimes help.

More graphs for those who can't get enough of them:

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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 September 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.

I’ve added a metric to my weekly peak at the foreclosure listings: The percentage or overall listings are foreclosures.

For all the months and months I’ve been tracking weekly forclosure listings in the nine residential Greensboro zip codes, I’ve never looked this number.

Well, bad on me because that number may be as telling as any other about the state of the market here in town.

For the week ending June 20, 2010, there were 14 new foreclosure listings. There were 142 listings overall, meaning 9.9% are foreclosures. This got me to wondering about the historical trend for this measure in Greensboro.

As well as I can figure, pulling data from the MLS (from whence all my listing information has always come), 9.9% is fairly middling. Actually below the 12 week average of 11.8% of weekly listings. In those 12 weeks, the highest percentage was *gag* 17% and the lowest was 6.7%.

Looking back to the same 12 weeks last year and the streams begin to cross:

You can see that there were weeks last year when the percentage of foreclosures was quite a bit lower than now. But there was a moratorium on foreclosures for a spell back then. I was surprised to see, though, that the percentage of foreclosures on a weekly basis, other than the moratorium time, hasn’t changed appreciably since I started tracking way back in early September 2008.

That was the month things started feeling pretty weird, real estate-wise around here.

I would have thought that we would have seen a steady increase over all this time. Not so. Over these nearly two years of data, the average percentage of foreclosures listed has been 11.6%. Again, these are properties listed in the Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS). It doesn’t include properties sold on the courthouse steps or otherwise outside the MLS.

Still. It surprised me.

Oh well. Here are the rest of the numbers:

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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) 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.

Of all the things that impact the housing market in any region, inventory may be the most important. The number of properties available for sale is what drives a market being dubbed “buyer’s” or “seller’s”. As with any other commodity, if there is much more on the shelves than buyers in the aisles, prices are impacted.

Unlike the price of apples, though, when a community has too much housing inventory, the impact can be widely felt. After all, properties whose value drops  will be taxed less. (You can read how property taxes are calculated in Guilford County here.) While lower taxes sounds great for the homeowner, lower tax revenues across a large area mean drastic changes for the entire community.

At any rate, tracking the housing inventory in Greensboro shows what everyone probably knows: There’s a great many properties for sale. As of June 5th, per our local Multiple Listing System (the database all properties listed by area Realtors) showed there are 3304 residential properties on the market. These include both ‘active’ and ‘pending’ listings. I include those units whose sales are pending because until they close, they’re not sold. And there has been many a fumble twixt contract and key exchange.

Compared with the same week last year, inventory is up. This week last year there were 3024 homes listed.

At the same time, the average list price is down from the same week last year. $222,871 this year versus $244,812 last year.

These prices are averages across all property types, across all zip codes. The ‘price of apples’ in some zip codes is decidedly more robust than in others:

Of course, some of those 3304 listings are indeed slated to close. Keeping a good thought towards that, the break down of active/pending listings in property types is this:

And active/pending by zip code is this:

Sadly, there is a portion of these listings that are foreclosures. The breakdown of the percentage of foreclosures in the overall numbers follow:

Eventually, there will be more buyers and fewer available properties. Until then, maybe we should get used to applesauce.

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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) 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.

Finally, finally, finally. For the first time since May, the new weekly foreclosure listings in Greensboro have been in the single digits two weeks in a row. For the week ending 9/13/09 there were 7* new listings. The week before, 9.

Too soon to say there’s a trend, but we’ll take it.

Those 7 foreclosures are located in 4 zip codes of Greensboro:

• 27401 – 2 listings
• 27405 – 2 listings
• 27406 – 2 listings
• 27410 – 1 listing

All but one are single-family houses, 1 being a townhouse.

Some data of note: the list price range for the houses is substantially narrower – and lower – than for any week since May.

• highest list price - $89,900
• lowest list price – $24,900
• average list price – $54,314
• median list price – $44,900

AND, for the first time in a goodly while, the number of foreclosure listings over a 12-week rolling period declined. We’ve been on an upward tick for this measure since June. So, again, good news.

The zip codes most impacted by foreclosures continue to be 27405 and 27406, which account for fully 50% (64) of the total number of foreclosures listed (128) in the last 12 weeks

Below are the requisite charts and graphs, but first here are a couple of properties that represent some of the foreclosures available in Greensboro right now:

2400 Peppervine Trail, Greensboro, NC 27455 $239,900 (MLS#530680)

2000 S. Benbow, Greensboro, NC 27406 $33,500 (MLS#525347)

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

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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) 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

Consider this a drive-by post. Been pretty busy lately and gotta run in a few minutes, but I wanted to share the latest information about foreclosures in Greensboro.

The short and sweet is – well, me, but let’s stick to real estate. Foreclosures listed in the week ending 5/31/2009 totaled 8, one of which is already under contract.

More importantly is that, looking at rolling 12-week trending, the number for the 12-week period 5/31 is down to 90. This is a distinct improvement over the grotesque number of 165 for the 12-week period ending 12/7/2008.

And of those listed since early September of 2008, only 20% are still available.

Some zip codes continue to be the most impacted by foreclosures – 27405 & 27407 have more that 50% of the foreclosures listed in the last 12 weeks. And those parts of Greensboro are clearly going to need more time to see appreciable improvement. But overall numbers continue to improve and that will eventually be reflected in those zips as well.

Step by step. Inch by inch. Zip code by zip code.

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

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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) 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

One of the most popular topics on this site is that of foreclosures. With all the carpet-bombing news stories about the distressed economic system, distressed banks, distressed real estate markets and distressed home sellers one could understandably be, well, distressed.

For sure, there is pain out there. True, real, flesh and blood people in tough positions.

But when we drill down to Greensboro foreclosure numbers*, we had another good week.

During the week ending 4/12/09, only 5 foreclosures were listed. That’s the fewest weekly total since tracking of the numbers started on this site. And of the 9 residential Greensboro zip codes, three have had no foreclosures listed in the last weeks. (27403, 27408 and 27455)

More importantly, there is a decided trend in the rolling 12-week periods of foreclosure listings. There were 12 fewer in the 12 week period ending 4/12 than the previous period. That’s a huge drop.

There has been a moratorium on foreclosures by some financial institutions, and those moratoriums are coming to a close. So perhaps the numbers will go the other direction in weeks to come. If they do, you’ll read it here.

But for now the trend is clear. There are fewer foreclosures in Greensboro than there were. And that means fewer stressed home sellers, which may lead to less stress on the real estate market, banks and the economy in general.

Let’s hope so because until they start putting Xanax in gumball machines, we all need less stress.

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

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) 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

It just keeps getting better.

There were only 6* new foreclosure listings in Greensboro for the week ending 3/15/09. That is a really small number. The average weekly listings since I started tracking in early September ’08 is 12.

And the total number listed in the 12-week rolling period ending on 3/15 is 142.

One-forty-freaking-two. It’s been as high as 165

AND, the number of listings closed or under contract are increasing. Can we get a round of applause? (I’ll wait for the cheering to subside…)

Add to all this and across the state foreclosures numbers are way down. I’m calling it. We’ve rounded the corner in regards to foreclosed homes. **whew!!**

Here. Look at the graphs and charts. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

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) 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.

I’m not trendy, but I know a trend when I see one. And there is a definite trend in the foreclosure listing activity in Greensboro.

It’s a downward trend, and that’s good. In order for the real estate market to rebound, there must be a reduction in inventory overall, and in the number of foreclosures specifically. That’s because foreclosures are the real estate equivalent of single celled organisms – not really productive in the grand scheme of things, taking energy the environment and are often slimy.

And I mean that literally. Some of these places look like they’ve been rode hard and hung up wet.

So, the first step towards economic evolution and advancement is to get these distressed properties off the market. And that’s what appears to be happening.

Looking at 12-week rolling periods, the week ending 3/1/09 has the lowest total since I started tracking, which was the beginning of September 2008.

That’s the first bit of good news.

The second is that, of the 146 properties listed in the last 12 weeks, the fewest yet are still on the market (comparing to other 12 week periods) and more are closed or pending than other periods.

Not only that, but of ALL the foreclosures listed since 9/8/08,  nearly 2/3 are closed or under contract..

This is a trend – unlike botox injections – behind which I can get.

[NOTE: It has been requested that I include numbers for  Summerfield, a 'bedroom' community north of Greensboro in Guilford County. I appreciate the suggestion and will start compiling the data and will post as soon as I have done so.]

For those who like to see the numbers for your zip code, here you go:

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

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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). Weekly fluctuations of the numbers can happen as the data is impacted by the promptness of input by members, properties that are temporarily withdrawn from the market, etc.,

The number of foreclosures listed in Greensboro during the week ending 2/1/09 was down a wee bit from the previous week  – 12 compared to 13.

“Well, woopty-doo!” I can hear some say.

“Indeedy-doo”, I say.

No, one less foreclosure listing isn’t an indicator of any particular change in the nauseating news we hear. But, as I’ve written before, looking at very recent trending is more important than any snippet of data from one point in time.

So I like to look at what’s happened to all these foreclosures because a property coming on the market is only part of the story. We want to see how many are selling. And that is where we can see a positive trend.

Walk this way…..

This is interesting. If you look at the fact that there are fewer foreclosures still ‘active’ than even during the 12-week rolling period ending 12/28/08 (when there was a total of 148 foreclosures having been listed, compared to the 153 listing in the 12-week period ending 2/1/09) that’s pretty encouraging.

While the number of listings is somewhat static, the number selling is increasing.

BTW, of the 12 foreclosures listed last week, 2 are already under contract (‘pending’)

Good stuff.

Now, for all you chartaholics:

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

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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). “Single-family” does not include Duplexes or manufactured homes.

This update is a couple of days later than usual because I’ve been busy. Yes. Busy. In real estate. Go figure!

At any rate, for the week ending 1/25/09, the number of new foreclosures listed in Greensboro totaled 13*. That’s down from the previous week of 16.

*shrug*

Nothing dramatic in that. And looking at the totals for the most recent 12 week-rolling period, the numbers also are nothing to scream about – 156 total listed vs. 153 total listed for the previous 12 week period.

But – and there’s always a ‘but’ – there is something a bit interesting.

If we look at what’s happened to those 156 properties listed in the last 12 weeks, more of them are ‘pending’ (under contract to sell) than any other 12 week period.

“So what”  you ask?

More pending sales mean more inventory about to be off the market.

Less inventory = better news for everybody.

And now, the rest…

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

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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). “Single-family” does not include Duplexes or manufactured homes.