Foreclosures plummet in first half of year

Foreclosures in the Washington region have shown one of the more dramatic drops in the country in the first half of the year, but experts say Prince George’s County is still far behind. Roughly 12,500 properties went into foreclosure during the first six months of the year, a 54 percent drop from January-June 2010, according to the foreclosure tracking firm RealtyTrac. Just 20 out of 211 major markets posted a greater improvement in foreclosures.

Much of the decline in the region, which includes Southern Maryland and part of West Virginia, came from Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, which combined for nearly 4,000 fewer foreclosures.