Foreclosures more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 in Clark County, according to the real estate data provider Attom. But that figure is low compared with foreclosure rates before the pandemic — a reflection of rising home values, experts say. (Associated Press files)
Foreclosures more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 in Clark County, according to the real estate data provider Attom. But that figure is low compared with foreclosure rates before the pandemic — a reflection of rising home values, experts say.
Attom includes commercial foreclosures in its data, but they make up few foreclosures and shouldn’t affect the overall trend, said Jennifer von Pohlmann of Attom.
There were 185 foreclosures within the county in 2022, a 137 percent increase compared with 78 foreclosures in 2021.
Housing experts attribute the increase to the end of a federal halt on foreclosures during the pandemic, which lasted from March 2020 to July 2022.
Although foreclosure rates have increased from 2021, they’re much lower than levels before the pandemic. Between 2017 and 2019, foreclosures wavered between 300 and 500 each year.
“I don’t want to minimize it. For the person who is in a bad financial situation somehow and is facing foreclosure, it’s not good,” said Mike Lamb, a broker with Windermere Stellar. “But these rates of foreclosure are so very low considering housing stock in Clark County. It’s completely nonsignificant, statistically.”
Foreclosure levels in Clark County peaked in 2009 at 3,868 after home values plummeted during the Great Recession.
“But what’s happened since 2020 is values went up dramatically. Everybody’s got more equity,” Lamb said. “You can sell the house and get money beyond paying off the mortgage.”
During the pandemic, U.S. households amassed a historically high volume of personal savings, partially due to COVID-19 restrictions closing businesses, according to a report from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Terry Wollam, a broker at Wollam and Associates, said this could also have contributed to lower foreclosure rates than before the pandemic.
“That is reflective if you look at the numbers on foreclosures and the fact that they dipped as much as they did,” he said.
Lamb said he doesn’t see anything on the horizon to suggest Clark County will see any sort of significant uptick in foreclosures with home values being so high.
However, personal savings have started to decline, according to the report. Wollam believes this may result in more residential foreclosures.
Wollam said the community may also see more multifamily and commercial property foreclosures in 2023 and 2024 because of rising capitalization rates, which measure the potential return on real estate investment.
In recent years, capitalization rates have increased by about 18 percent, Wollam said, which can result in decreasing property values. Lower property values could make it challenging for property owners to refinance or sell the property to cover their debts.
“We’ve had a lot of new apartments built in the last few years, which puts those investors, developers in a tough position over the next year,” he said. “That market will improve in 2025. But it was a tough year in 2023, and it’s a tough market in 2024.”
This story was made possible by Community Funded Journalism, a project from The Columbian and the Local Media Foundation. Top donors include the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund, Patricia, David and Jacob Nierenberg, Connie and Lee Kearney, Steve and Jan Oliva, The Cowlitz Tribal Foundation and the Mason E. Nolan Charitable Fund. The Columbian controls all content. For more information, visit columbian.com/cfj.
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