Foreclosure Filings Drop in Pima County, Arizona

The volume of foreclosure filings dropped in Pima County in Arizona last month compared to the same month in 2009. The decline came after the volume increased for several times in the previous months.

In November, there were 829 homeowners in the county who received notices due to defaulted mortgages. It was slightly down from 859 of similar notices issued in the county in the same month last year, according to the Recorder’s Office. The notices were filed in the Recorder’s Office. Those indicate financially distressed properties and owners who were already delinquent on mortgage payments, but are still unsure whether the homes would be foreclosed.

The same notices rose 7.5% in October compared to same month in the preceding year. The figure also rose by 8% in September. Foreclosure filings dropped in November, the first time after several months of increase in a sign that foreclosure in the county (and probably in the state) could be easing.

The volume of foreclosure sales, filed differently as trustee deeds, fell at the same time in year-to-year comparison. There were 336 of such sales in November, down 27% compared to sales in November last year.

For the months of January through November of this year, the total volume of foreclosed homes sold was at 6,337. The figure is more than the total volume of such homes sold in the entire 2009, which was at 5,826. It is still not clear how much higher the sales for this year would be, because there are still foreclosed homes that are expected to be sold this month.

At the national angle, foreclosure sales dropped 25% in the third quarter (July to September) compared to the preceding quarter and fell 31% compared to the same period last year. Market analysts attributed the decline to the impact to consumer moods of the expiration of a helpful homebuyer tax credit in April this year.

In the state, sales of foreclosed homes accounted for about 47% of total home sales in the entire Arizona in third quarter. The state was the second top on the list of states with high level of foreclosed home sales. Third-quarter foreclosure sales in the state, however, fell 27% compared to foreclosure sales in the second quarter and dropped 32% compared to sales in the same period last year.

For more news and information about foreclosures in the US, visit ForeclosureConnections.com.