Foreclosures rise in Toledo
Filings drop in rest of region compared with a year ago
8/16/2014Foreclosure activity in metro Toledo increased 23 percent in July from the same month a year earlier. But it was down 57 percent from June, according to new figures from the real estate data firm RealtyTrac Inc.
Meanwhile, in Lucas and Wood Counties, actual foreclosure case filings in common pleas courts in July were down from a year ago, according to data from the counties’ clerk of courts offices.
July data from Lucas County Clerk of Courts Bernie Quilter shows that there were 116 foreclosure cases filed, down from 153 cases a year ago, but up from 101 cases in June.
Through July, foreclosure cases in Lucas County are down 36 percent compared to the first seven months of 2013, an encouraging sign.
In Wood County, there were 23 foreclosure cases filed in July, down from 30 a year ago and down from 27 in June.
Through July, there have been 158 foreclosure cases in Wood County, down from 214 cases in the first seven months of 2013, figures show.
Nationally, foreclosure activity monitored by RealtyTrac — which includes notices of default, notices of trustee’s and sheriff’s foreclosure sales, and real estate-owned properties that have been foreclosed upon and repurchased by a bank — was the reverse of metro Toledo.
Across the United States, foreclosure activity was down 16 percent from a year ago, and up 2 percent from June.
According to RealtyTrac, there were 396 metro Toledo properties in some stage of foreclosure in July, or 1 for every 761 properties. In June, there were 920 properties in the foreclosure stages, and a year ago there were 321.
For Ohio, July foreclosure activity was down 24 percent from a year ago, and down 12 percent from June.
Glennis Przymierski, a foreclosure real estate specialist with the Danberry Co. in Toledo, said the inventory of foreclosed properties she works with is down. But generally, foreclosure activity hasn’t dropped as much over the past few years as local real estate industry officials had hoped.
“My numbers are down, my inventory is down. And we’ve seen a little bit of a drop,” Ms. Przymierski said. “But there’s an awful lot of [homes] that haven’t made it through the sheriff’s office yet.”
Local real estate agents were looking for a drop in foreclosure activity a few years ago when the housing market began to recover. “But we really haven’t seen that,” Ms. Przymierski said.
“People that went through loan modifications a few years ago were helped. But those modifications only last a certain amount of time,” she said. “As those modifications have come to an end, many are finding they still may not be able to afford their homes.”
Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.