Austin Area Foreclosure Postings Up 14%

The company from which I get my foreclosure statistics (Foreclosure Listing Service) just sent over this press release regarding the February foreclosure auction stats.

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The filing deadline has passed for foreclosure postings to be filed at county courthouses throughout the State of Texas for the upcoming foreclosure auctions to be held on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011.

Therefore, Foreclosure Listing Service, Inc. has completed our research of the January foreclosure postings.

In a meeting today, George Roddy, Sr., President of Foreclosure Listing Service, Inc., announced “Foreclosure postings filed in the Austin Metro for the upcoming foreclosure auctions in February climbed 14% above this time last year.” 

Mr. Roddy continued, “For the upcoming foreclosure auctions in February, 1,376 notices have been filed threatening real estate in the Austin area with foreclosure.” 

“Compared to this time last year, posting activity for February climbed 14% from the 1,204 postings filed for the second foreclosure auction of 2010,” the firm’s CEO said. 

Mr. Roddy added, “On a month-to-month basis, foreclosure filings were down -9% from the 1,505 postings filed for the last foreclosure auction (for the January auction).  However, that was not a big decline considering that last month’s posting activity was the second highest on record for this foreclosure cycle. Plus, this month’s 1,376 postings remained higher than the monthly average for all of last year, which was an average of 1,325 postings per month,” Mr. Roddy shared. 

The foreclosure analyst, who’s firm has been tracking foreclosure activity since 1963, remarked, “Austin foreclosure posting activity for February remained on the extreme high-end in this foreclosure cycle.  Foreclosure postings for the four-county area have been at 1,000 or more for 25 months in a row.  

Posting activity pushed even higher by topping 1,300 in 11 of those months and surpassed 1,500 notices twice, both of which occurred within the last 3 months.  The record high was set with the December of 2010 auctions when 1,561 notices were filed on properties located within the Metro.” 

Mr. Roddy commented, “Each month, slight fluctuations up or down are normal.  I watch closely the ‘same month-to-same month’ comparison over the course of the last year or two, plus month-to-month changes that are prolonged for 6 months or more consistently.” 

When asked about the outlook for foreclosures over the coming months, the real estate analyst replied, “I expect that foreclosure postings will remain on the high-end and that a real recovery is far from happening anytime soon.” 

Mr. Roddy added, “Needless to say, the fallout from this foreclosure crisis is going to take a long time to work through.  Until a significant amount of workers begin to be re-employed, there is simply no reason for foreclosure postings to decline.  Even re-employment in today’s market does not assure that a family’s bills will be paid because many workers are being hired at wages far lower than at their previous job.” 

Mr. Roddy concluded his talk by saying, “I know the last thing any of us wants to hear is that this foreclosure crisis is far from being over; but, unfortunately, that is the case.  Plus, I am concerned that so many families’ budgets are already stretched well beyond their means and one little hiccup in their income stream or an unexpected major expense could push their budget over the edge for months to come.” 

FEBRUARY HOME POSTINGS BY COUNTY