Foreclosures have risen and fallen month to month across various parts of the region, but quarterly data released on Tuesday indicate a sharp uptick in foreclosures during the first quarter of 2008, compared with the fourth quarter of last year.
There were exceptions, such as Loudoun County, Manassas, Fairfax and Falls Church, but most areas saw double-digit, and in some cases, triple-digit, increases.
“Most regions of the country are seeing more foreclosures,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, a Web-based foreclosure listing company that releases monthly and quarterly foreclosure data.
Among the largest 100 metropolitan areas in the country, the Washington region ranked 22nd. Maryland was the state with the 12th-highest foreclosure rate, and Virginia placed 15th.
Foreclosures can depress prices in a market, said Paul Carrillo, assistant professor of economics at George Washington University, but if there’s enough interest in taking advantage of lower prices, eventually prices will come back up.
Prince George’s County, which had the highest foreclosure rate in Maryland, with one out of every 95 households seeing foreclosure filings, had 3,334 filings total in the first quarter, a 34.06 percent jump from the fourth quarter of 2007.
Montgomery County, ranked seventh in the state, had 1,642 foreclosures in the first quarter, up 42.91 percent, with a rate of one out of every 219 households.
Prince William County, Manassas and Loudoun County, respectively, topped the list in Virginia. Prince William, with a rate of one out of every 35 households, saw a 91.36 percent increase in the first quarter, up to 3,764 foreclosure filings. Manassas, at 151 foreclosures in the first quarter, actually saw a 50.81 decrease from the fourth quarter, to a rate of one out of every 85 households. Loudoun County only saw a 0.73 percent increase last quarter, to 1,110 foreclosure filings, with one out of every 89 households with filings.
Fairfax County, ranked eighth in the state, however, saw a 101.96 increase in filings, up to 3,189 in the first quarter, with a rate of one out of every 123 households.
Arlington County and Alexandria, which both saw triple-digit increases, still had relatively low foreclosure ratings, with one out of every 399 households and 351 households, respectively.
Fairfax City, which only had 20 filings, had a 64.29 percent decrease in filings from 56 filings, and Falls Church had only three filings, down from 11 in the fourth quarter.
