Foreclosure filings increase in Md., Va. in April

Filings were up 50 percent in Maryland and 12 percent in Virginia. There were nearly 6,000 foreclosure filings in the D.C. area in April — a modest 3.4 percent drop from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac, a company that markets and sells foreclosed properties.

One in every 387 homes in the area received some type of foreclosure filing, which include defaults, auctions, and bank repossessions. Several jurisdictions had worse rates, including Loudoun County, at one in 309, Prince George’s County, at one in 234, and Prince William County, at one in 172.

Foreclosures are still accounting for a sizable chunk of the market outside the beltway in Montgomery County, said Debbie Cook, a Realtor with Long and Foster. Some areas like Silver Spring seem to be stabilizing, she said.

High-end homes are not escaping the damage.

“I have seen million dollar short sales,” Cook said. “They’re few and far between, but they do occur.”

For the most part, foreclosure activity in the D.C. metro area is below the national average because of government jobs, prevalent health care and educational institutions, and foreign capital creeping back into the market, said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac. But, again, high-end homes are not immune, he said.

“We are finally starting to see some fallout at the million dollar-plus level,” Sharga said.

Though Maryland and Virginia’s filings both increased in April, he cautioned not to read too much into month-to-month changes.

There are “no obvious reasons for Maryland and Virginia to become a foreclosure hotbed,” he said.

Nationally, April was the first month in the history of RealtyTrac’s report that showed an annual decrease in foreclosure activity, said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. But it is much too early to celebrate — bank repossessions also hit a monthly high.

“We expect a similar pattern to continue for most of this year, with the overall numbers staying at a high level and ripples of activity hitting the various stages of the foreclosure process as lenders systematically work through the backlog of distressed properties,” he said.

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