Maryland foreclosure filings more than doubled in June compared with last year, and experts say more bad news about the housing market could be on the way.
Foreclosure filings were placed on one of every 370 homes in June in the state — the tenth-worst rate in the country, according to RealtyTrac, a firm that markets and sells foreclosures. Virginia ranked 18th among states for the period, with one foreclosure for every 565 homes.
Prince George’s County still has the highest rate in the area, at one of every 181 homes, but the problem is now creeping into Maryland’s outer suburbs. In June 2008, there were 106 foreclosure filings combined in Frederick, Charles and Calvert counties. In June this year, that number ballooned to 717, according to RealtyTrac. The foreclosure rates in the three counties were also much worse than the national average.
Jurisdiction
2010 rate
2009 rate
Calvert
1/251
1/635
Charles
1/205
1/849
Frederick
1/268
1/607
Prince George’s
1/181
1/238
Montgomery
1/630
1/887
Loudoun
1/295
1/216
Prince William
1/215
1/143
D.C.
1/1,102
1/682
Maryland
1/370
1/748
Virginia
1/565
1/631
U.S.
1/411
1/380
Source: RealtyTrac
Further, the rate of mortgages that were at least 90 days delinquent ticked up in June from a year ago in all four jurisdictions, according to CoreLogic, a California-based business analytics company.
Those delinquencies will not necessarily turn into foreclosures if home prices remain stable, said Sam Khater, senior economist for CoreLogic.
But with new and existing home sales dropping in recent months, that may not be the case.
“I expect prices to soften, both nationally and in the D.C. area,” he said.
The reach of the foreclosure problem is spreading into areas it has not before, said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac.
The reach of the foreclosure problem is spreading into areas it has not before, said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac.
“[It’s] growing wider, but not deeper,” he said. “This foreclosure issue is being more fragmented” and driven by unique, local issues, he added.
Blomquist cited the hard-hit Cook County in Illinois as an example of this outward trend, noting that foreclosures have now migrated to its “collar counties.”
While the problem may be creeping outward into Maryland, Virginia’s outer suburbs of Prince William and Loudoun counties were hit hard early on across the Potomac, and now appear to be turning around. Filings were down 32 percent in June in Prince William, but one of every 215 homes received a foreclosure notice — comparable to Prince George’s rate of one of every 181.
The fragile stability in many local housing markets hinges on an improved job market, said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac.
“If unemployment remains persistently high and foreclosure prevention efforts only delay the inevitable, then we could continue to see increased foreclosure activity and a corresponding weakness in home prices in many metro areas,” he said.
