The percentage of home sales involving bank owned residential properties and foreclosed homes declined in Virginia last year. However, several local areas remained in deep trouble as foreclosure sales continue to account for a large part of total residential property sales in these markets.
Despite the decline in the number of Richmond bank owned properties and foreclosed houses in various areas of Virginia in 2010, housing experts stated that the foreclosure problem is not yet over in the area. For one, some local markets still recorded high foreclosure sale percentages, such as Prince William County. For another, most experts believe that the decline was due to the controversial robo-signing claims, which means that a huge number of foreclosures are still building up the inventory.
Housing analysts also stated that the bank owned homes in Virginia trapped in the pipeline will likely enter the market this year, which could possibly create a new foreclosure wave. As of the first month of 2011 though, statewide foreclosure filings are still down, with January figures showing that filings declined in the region by 42%. This comes on the heel of a 31% decrease in foreclosure sales last year. However, Prince William County continued to suffer from huge foreclosure numbers despite the robo-signing issue.
Bank owned residential properties and foreclosures accounted for 41% of the total number of housing units sold in Prince William County in 2010, representing the highest percentage for the Washington region, which is comprised of central and southwestern Maryland, the District and Northern Virginia.
For the whole region, bank-owned foreclosures accounted for 23% of total housing unit sales in 2010, slightly better than the national average of 26%. Over 16,000 properties are owned by banks in the Washington region as of January, and analysts have estimated that it will take 30 months before these bank owned properties are unloaded. However, the figure did record a decrease from the 18,000 peak total posted in November of 2008.
Industry analysts stated that banks are learning from past mistakes and are now releasing bank owned residential properties gradually into the market so as to avoid creating another housing industry crash. About 30% of foreclosures in the Washington region are currently available for sale.
John Cutts has been educated in the finer points of the foreclosure market over 5 years.
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