In April
2010 — 442
2009 — 486
2008 — 304
2007 — 90
2006 — 150
SOURCE: RealtyTrac. Irvine, Calif.
Clark County foreclosure filings retreated a bit in April, but still represented the highest rate of foreclosure out of Washington’s 39 counties, California database company RealtyTrac reported on Wednesday.
Some credit the Obama administration’s beefed-up foreclosure prevention plan for pushing rates down across the nation, including Clark County, which reported filings on 442 properties in April. That was down 9.1 percent from 486 foreclosures filed in April 2009, a sign that mortgage lenders are more willing to negotiate with underwater homeowners.
Nevertheless, the county’s overall foreclosure rate remained the state’s highest for the second month in a row, with one out of every 368 households in some stage of foreclosure.
And when compared month to month, Clark County’s total foreclosure filings — which includes default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — increased by 32.3 percent compared with the 334 foreclosures filed in March,
“For us, it has not slowed down a bit,” said Teri Duffy, executive director of the Community Housing Resource Center in Vancouver, which provides free mortgage default counseling and helps struggling homeowners with loan modification.
The center’s two mortgage counselors each meet with about 25 clients per week, on average, said Duffy, who estimated her staff has helped approximately 1,200 households with foreclosure counseling in the past 12 months.
The number of U.S. households on the verge of foreclosure in April dipped 2 percent from the same month last year, which RealtyTrac said was the first decrease in activity since it began issuing the foreclosure report in 2005.
“The banks are trying to comply with the Obama administration, which is asking banks to work with mortgage remodifications and short sales,” said Scott Anthony, a certified foreclosure specialist with Windermere Real Estate/Stellar Group in Vancouver.
He has seen fewer bank-owned foreclosures in Clark County and more homes listed as short sales, in which the borrower sells a property for less than is owed on the mortgage.
“The short sales outnumber foreclosures two to one in Clark County,” said Anthony, who typically markets foreclosed properties that are owned by the bank or mortgage lender. “First, the bank tries to modify the loan and if they can’t, they’ll look at the short sales,” Anthony said.
Local real estate agents blame the transactions, in part, for softening home values across the market.
Duffy advises struggling homeowners to be patient, as there is a three-month trial period before the government program offers help with a permanent loan modification. That’s why the center’s backlog of clients continues to increase.
“We might see a customer for as long as six months before they get resolution, and for some, it might take a year,” she said.
Duffy blamed Clark County’s unemployment rate for the area’s persistently high rate of foreclosure.
“It’s one of the biggest drivers, the loss of employment or a loss of income because of a reduction in working hours,” she said.
In March, 14.8 percent of Clark County’s work force was unemployed, the highest jobless rate statewide among counties situated along the Interstate 5 corridor.
One in every 387 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month of April, with foreclosure filings reported on 333,837 properties. Washington had the 24th highest foreclosure rating in the nation, with one in every 640 homes in foreclosure in April. Oregon ranked No. 13, with one in every 427 households in some stage of foreclosure.
