Santa Barbara & San Luis Obispo County Foreclosure Mini-Market Update

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Are we beginning to turn the corner on foreclosures on the central coast? The number of notices of default (“NODs”) filed in both counties marked a sharp decline last month.

For example in Santa Barbara county, in the proceeding 8 months of 2008, the number of notices of default averaged about 302 notices per month, and in August the number of NODs filed was 269. However, in September 2008 that number dropped almost 60% to 112. Prior to that month, the lowest number of NODs filed in one month in SB county was 266 in July 2008, so 112 appears to be quite a significant drop. Further in San Luis Obispo county, foreclosure statistics follow this pattern as well. In June, July, and August 2008, the average number of NODs filed was 156, whereas the number of NODs filed in September 2008 was 88. This marks an almost 45% drop from that previous 3 month average.

Of course one month’s stats are only a small part of what is going on in the local housing market. It may indicate that lenders are simply too backed up to file NODs in a timely fashion, or that lenders are doing more loan modifications and workouts with borrowers instead of filing foreclosure actions, it could also mean that we are on the downslope of this trend. And of course, it could be a combination of all those things.

If you are interested in receiving additional foreclosure market information, please send a request to me at tni@mintprop.com, or call me at (805) 878-9879.

Tni LeBlanc, JD, M.A. , e-PRO
Broker/Owner, Mint Properties
(805) 878-9879, tni@MintProp.com
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*Based on the information from the Stewart Title’s Foreclosure Market Summary. Mint Properties does not guarantee or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data provided may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.