August Foreclosure Rates Take a Dip

Could the end of summer be bringing the end of the LA foreclosure boom? Property Shark released its August report this week, and it has some encouraging news: For the first time in many, many months, the number of new trustee sales declined over the previous month—the rate dropped 18% over July.

We’ve still got a ton of foreclosures happening—make no mistake. That 18% drop still translates to 4,907 new foreclosures. It’s hugely more than other big urban centers: Miami had 994, NYC had 383 and Seattle had 175. And it’s still a 159% increase over last August. So it’s not a rosy picture. But it is encouraging. We may have worked our way through the largest chunk of defaulters, and be able to land on more stable market ground as fall approaches. Let’s keep our fingers crossed: A more stable market will be better for everyone in the long run. Even though buyers are looking to swoop up steals, as long as the market is flooded with foreclosures, it will be difficult to gage whether you’re getting a bargain or a bad deal. If the next few months continue to see a drop off in foreclosures, it gives buyers a bit of confidence that today’s purchase price won’t drastically fall in the next year.