Pr. William, Pr. George's dogged by foreclosures in 3rd quarter
By: David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
October 16, 2009
Prince William and Prince George's counties boasted seven of the nine area ZIP codes with the most foreclosure filings last quarter, as the suburbs continue to lurch through fallout from the real estate crash.
A Woodbridge, Va., ZIP code saw 523 foreclosure filings -- tops in the region -- and one in Fort Washington, Md., was second with 347. Others in the top 10 included an Alexandria section of Fairfax County and a section of Germantown in Montgomery County, according to data released Wednesday by the online foreclosure-tracking Web site Realtytrac.
In general, there have been a high number of foreclosures in exurban communities such as Prince William and Loudoun counties, said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for Realtytrac.
"We're actually seeing it spread outside those areas now," he said.
Blomquist did note that Prince William County has traditionally had one of the higher foreclosure rates in the D.C. area.
"Despite that, foreclosure activity in Prince William County is actually down 41 percent from a year ago," he said, noting that the activity level was still high relative to nearby counties.
Prince George's had the most foreclosure filings in the D.C. region in September, with 1,919 -- more than twice its total in September 2008. Prince William saw a 45 percent drop in September from a year ago, but the county's total was still above 800.
Nationwide, moe than 900,000 homes, or one out of every 136, received a foreclosure filing during the third quarter -- a 5 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 23 percent spike from the third quarter in 2008.
"[Bank repossessions] increased from the previous quarter in all but two states and the District of Columbia, indicating that lenders may be starting to work through some of the pent-up foreclosure inventory caused by legislative delays, loan modification efforts and high volumes of distressed properties," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.
