Coloradro trends downward in foreclosures (Denver: sales, assessor, mortgage)

[2bindenver]

Colorado, which topped the list in December, dropped to fourth place. The number of new foreclosure filings in that state dropped 0.23 percent compared to December and was up 29.5 percent compared to January 2006, with one new foreclosure filing for every 377 households. Colorado's foreclosure rate was the highest in the nation for nine of 12 months last year.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

Colorado, which topped the list in December, dropped to fourth place. The number of new foreclosure filings in that state dropped 0.23 percent compared to December and was up 29.5 percent compared to January 2006, with one new foreclosure filing for every 377 households. Colorado's foreclosure rate was the highest in the nation for nine of 12 months last year.

Interesting news, but the story behind the news is that this is more about other states' foreclosure rates spiking above ours than a real drop in our foreclosure numbers. Still, at least the problem isn't getting worse and I hate seeing Colorado on the top of any negative list.

[Charles]

I've always been under the impression that Colorado defines foreclosures differently than other states (and years ago I remember reading that Colorado had a high foreclosure rate).

Here's an explanation:

Business: WHAT COUNTS: Colorado's method of calculating foreclosures | colorado, counts, foreclosures : Gazette.com

[dj32]

I agree Charles... I think the way we report foreclosures differs from other states and have heard this time and time again as well. Thanks for posting the link.

[Bob from down south]

Colorado reports foreclosure filings, rather than sales, which differs from the reporting methodology of some other states. I guess that if Colorado is worried about winning the Foreclosure Olympics, that'd be an important point.

For me, the year-over-year trend, measured consistently within Colorado, is what's worthy of note. It's up. Way up.

And I disagree with the El Paso County assessor in his casual dismissal of 1,682 foreclosure sales as "miniscule." That's one foreclosure for every 154 properties in the county...and an even higher proportion when measured just against the noncommercial nonfarm residential sector.

If it weren't a problem, we wouldn't have seen the realtor roundtable even addressing it in this series of articles. It certainly is a problem if your comps are being deflated by a foreclosure being marketed right around the corner for 15% less than your asking price.

[Bob from down south]

And, by the way, the title of this thread, "Coloadro [sic] trends downward in foreclosures" (initiated by a realtor), is grossly misleading to begin with.

Colorado foreclosures, by any measure, are up sharply. Colorado may have lost its lead in the great race to the bottom...but make no mistake, the trend is still a bad one. Trying to represent this as some kind of happy story is just more NAR-style whitewash bullhockey.

[dj32]

bob, you don't even live in Denver so how do you know so much about the ENTIRE metro market? Sorry, I'm just really, really tired of the gloom and doom when the Denver market as a whole is not really that bad.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by Bob from down south

And, by the way, the title of this thread, "Coloadro [sic] trends downward in foreclosures" (initiated by a realtor), is grossly misleading to begin with.

Colorado foreclosures, by any measure, are up sharply. Colorado may have lost its lead in the great race to the bottom...but make no mistake, the trend is still a bad one. Trying to represent this as some kind of happy story is just more NAR-style whitewash bullhockey.

In any case the opening post is from February, 2007, more than a year ago. It wasn't a current commentary. Care to analyze it from hindsight?

[2bindenver]

WHAT COUNTS: Colorado's method of calculating foreclosures

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Apr 7, 2008 - McClatchy Tribune Business News

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Apr. 7--WHAT COUNTS IN COLORADO


Colorado's method of compiling foreclosures is somewhat different from those in other parts of the nation....Once a foreclosure filing takes place, homeowners have several weeks to catch up on their missed mortgage payments or work out a payment plan with lenders.

If a homeowner fails to "cure" the default on the loan, as the process is called, or if a lender doesn't withdraw the foreclosure action, then the house can be sold.

In 2007, 1,682 properties -- mostly residential -- were sold in El Paso County months after the original foreclosure action was filed. El Paso County Assessor Mark Lowderman, "Sixteen-hundred out of 260,000," he says, "That's minuscule."

[multitrak]

Originally Posted by Bob from down south

Colorado foreclosures, by any measure, are up sharply.

i might believe the "up sharply" part if i could see your data source, not biased news clippings. the point of the article is that colorado's funky foreclosure reporting law only discloses initial filings, not sales (real foreclosures in other states). any way you cut it, foreclosure work outs still outnumber foreclosure sales.