Published Thursday, September 10, 2009

September foreclosures a record for Coweta

The Newnan Times-Herald

While the recession may be over -- at least according to the latest estimates given by the Federal Reserve -- the foreclosure crisis is still a lingering concern.

There are 265 foreclosure advertisements in the legal ads section of The Times-Herald today. That's the highest number of local foreclosure ads yet on record, and a 50 percent increase from the 177 listed a year ago, in September 2008.

It's also a 35 percent jump from the 196 foreclosure ads listed last month, and a 143 percent increase over the 109 ads listed in September 2007.

The previous high for foreclosure ads was 253, set in June of this year.

According to the latest statistics from First American CoreLogic, the problem areas in Coweta County -- as of July -- are still in the southern part of the county, in the Grantville area, and also in extreme northern Coweta, in Palmetto.

The foreclosure rate in the Grantville zip code is listed as high, at more than 2.8 percent, while the rest of the county ranks as either moderate (western and southeastern Coweta County) or moderately low (northeastern Coweta County).

There's some room for optimism. First American CoreLogic, a collector of national, state, and local data on home prices, foreclosure, and delinquency activity, reports that national housing prices fell 7.8 percent in June 2009 compared to June 2008, representing the smallest year-over-year decline recorded to date in 2009. June's decline was a 0.7-percent improvement over the 8.5 percent decline in May.

In the Atlanta metro area home prices have decreased 9.80 percent in June compared to a year ago, according to First American CoreLogic. In May 2009, the Atlanta metro area showed a decrease of 11 percent compared to one year prior.

Month-over-month declines have been moderating in the first half of 2009, the company reports. Between January and June 2009 home prices improved by 3.3 percent. This is the first time in four years that the spring and summer seasonal price trend exhibited its normal pattern.

The seasonal improvement in home prices in the first half of 2009 is a positive sign, the company says, but it is important to note that a decline in distressed sales, rather than an increase in traditional home sales prices, was responsible for the uptick.

If the decline in distressed sales is sustainable, and not simply a result of recent foreclosure moratoriums, this could be the first step toward recovery, which will then be followed by outright price increases that will result in continued upward price trends.

A closely-watched national index, Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller, shows that metro Atlanta home prices increased in the summer months, but remain down on the year.

The report, published Sept. 30, shows metro Atlanta home prices rose 0.4 percent from June to July and grew 0.3 percent from May to June, but were down 8.2 percent on the year. The report noted Atlanta is still too close to recent home price lows to determine if the market has stabilized.

The complete 20-city (MSA) index shows national house prices continued to decline, shrinking a record 16.3 percent on the year, falling 0.5 percent from May to June and dipping 0.9 percent from June to July.

More than 15.2 million U.S. mortgages, or 32.2 percent of all mortgaged properties, were in negative equity position as of June 2009. June's negative equity share was slightly lower than the 32.5 percent as of the end of March 2009, and it reflects the recent stabilization of home prices.

The aggregate property value for loans in a negative equity position was $3.4 trillion, which represents the total property value at risk of default.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has programs that might help families facing foreclosure, at www.hud.gov or 1-800-225-5342.

Month-by-month foreclosure listings in The Times-Herald:

Oct. 2008 -- 142 (up from 130 in 2007, or 9 percent).

Nov. 2008 -- 166 (up from 116 in 2007, or 43 percent).

Dec. 2008 -- 126 (up from 118 in 2007, or 6.7 percent).

Jan. 2009 -- 176 (up from 156 in 2008, or 12.8 percent).

Feb. 2009 -- 153 (up from 123 in 2008, or 24.3 percent).

Mar. 2009 -- 216 (up from 128 in 2008, or 68.75 percent).

April 2009 -- 182 (up from 145 in 2008, or 25 percent).

May 2009 -- 176 (up from 128 in 2008, or 37.5 percent).

June 2009 -- 253 (up from 125 in 2008, or 102.4 percent).

July 2009 -- 169 (up from 136 in 2008, or 24 percent).

Aug. 2009 -- 196 (up from 137 in 2008, or 43 percent).

Sept. 2009 -- 265 (up from 177 in 2008, or 49.7 percent).