The number of foreclosures jumped last month across much of the Washington region, according to a new report from RealtyTrac, a real estate tracking company.
In Northern Virginia, foreclosed properties increased 26 percent, from 2,765 properties to 3,472 properties.
The average foreclosure rate stood at 0.436 percent of all homeowners, well above the state average of 0.162 percent. Having so many foreclosures for sale is further affecting the real estate market.
“You’re seeing a drag in market where there wasa slowdown,” said Donna Evers, president, owner and broker of Evers and Co. But “close in [to the Beltway], markets are moving along briskly.”
The one exception was Loudoun County, which saw a 22 percent drop in properties with foreclosure filings from 497 to 388 in January.
The foreclosure rate still remained at 0.416 percent. Manassas City also had a high foreclosure rate, 0.473 percent, with foreclosures increasing 329 percent from 14 to 60.
Fairfax County’s rate stood at 0.344, and filings jumped 42 percent, from 939 properties to 1,330. Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax and Falls Church all had foreclosure rates below 0.13 percent.
“A lot of banks are offering to freeze the rates another year,” which should help, said Evers.
In Montgomery County, foreclosures were up 18 percent, from 428 properties to 506 properties, with a foreclosure rate of 0.142 percent.
Prince George’s County’s foreclosure increase was a relatively low 8 percent, from 979 properties to 1,060 properties.
Prince William County saw a 23 percent increase in foreclosures, from 1,224 properties to 1,504 properties in January, and a relatively high foreclosure rate of 1.197 percent.
The reason, said Evers, was that Prince William had a “multitude of subdivisions” built, and lenders presented “alluring propositions” of buying larger models for the same initial starting payment as for the smaller models, said Evers.
Some people took on more than they could afford.
Properties with foreclosure filings in the District increased to 504, a 90.2 percent from December 2007, bringing the foreclosure rate to 0.181 percent of all households.
