Creeping foreclosures, delinquencies and a high percentage of bank-owned sales are casting a pall over the Washington-area housing market’s budding recovery.
The foreclosure rate on outstanding mortgages in the Washington region was 2.33 percent in February, up from 1.69 percent a year ago, according to data from First American CoreLogic. And 8.22 percent of mortgages were at least three months delinquent, up from 5.62 percent a year ago.
Creeping housing problems?
The Washington area’s foreclosure and delinquency rates are rising.
Month Foreclosure rate 90-plus-day delinquency rate
February 2010 2.33% 8.22%
January 2010 2.26% 7.95%
December 2009 2.19% 7.67%
November 2009 2.21% 7.57%
October 2009 2.23% 7.31%
September 2009 2.23% 7.08%
August 2009 2.23% 6.73%
July 2009 2.19% 6.40%
June 2009 2.16% 6.28%
May 2009 2.13% 6.08%
April 2009 2.05% 5.90%
March 2009 1.90% 5.69%
February 2009 1.69% 5.62%
January 2009 1.61% 5.34%
Source: First American CoreLogic
Upside-down homes are keeping some properties off the market, as owners don’t want to take a loss when they sell, said Allen Scarbrough, treasury manager for Prince William County. Indeed, while the median sales price for houses, including condos, improved in March in Prince William from a year ago, sales were down about 25 percent, according to statistics from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.
“I have been a little disappointed with the volume over the past few months,” Scarbrough said. “Part of that speaks to the still-remaining bank inventory.”
Over the past four months, about 20 percent of house sales in the Washington area have been lender- or bank-owned properties, according to data from Clear Capital Markets.
The normal level is about 5 percent, said Alex Villacorta, senior statistician for Clear Capital. Still, even the 20.7 percent figure is an improvement; at the start of 2009, the figure was close to 40 percent.
Nationally, pending home sales did rise in February.
“The healthy gain hints home prices are continuing to flatten,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “We need a second surge to meaningfully draw down inventory and definitively stabilize home values.”
But with an unemployment rate hovering near 10 percent, recovery prospects could hinge on an improvement in jobs.
“Jobs equal housing — that’s just the way it is,” Scarbrough said. “Anytime there’s a major change in any market, you’ll have a period of fear where people pull back and wait to see what happens. I think that’s beginning to abate somewhat.”
