Foreclosures few and far between in region despite slumping housing market

According to figures released last week by RealtyTrac, a well-known Web site for foreclosure properties, there were only 11 foreclosures in D.C. during the month of September. That figure represents a roughly 8 percent decrease in foreclosures from September of last year and ranks Washington 48th overall for foreclosures.

Colorado topped the list with 4,485 foreclosures.

Virginia ranked 41st for 400 foreclosures and Maryland came in at 33rd with 572 foreclosures.

The primary reason the Washington region has been able to avoid major foreclosures — nationwide the numbers were up 63 percent ,over last September — is its strong job market, said Lawrence Yun, a senior economist with the National Association of Realtors.

“If people were losing their jobs and forced to sell and no one was buying homes,” then you would see foreclosures, Yun told The Examiner. “But here in the D.C. region, we have one of the strongest employment markets in the country. We are experiencing a housing slump, not a job market slump.”

In addition, while there has been a slight dip in home prices — prices in Northern Virginia are down about 5.7 percent from last year — the Washington-area market is expected to bottom out by the end of the year and start appreciating at a moderate pace in 2007. That means even if people are forced to sell their homes, most sellers — with the exception of those who bought at the very height of the market in 2005 — can still sell at a profit.

“People can still get out of the property and not lose money,” said Bank of America Assistant Vice President Rick Eul, who specializes in home mortgages.

Bank of America does not have any homes currently under foreclosure in the D.C. region, Eul said.

There may be an uptick in foreclosures in the coming months as prices dip, Yun said, but “we will continue to be one of the lowest in comparison to the rest of the country.”