Aug 20 2014
Alli Pyrah, Staff Reporter- Portland Business Journal
Yesterday, I reported on data from real estate buyer Gorilla Capital, which suggested that the Oregon housing market will be slower to recover due to a large number of foreclosure filings that have yet to be resolved.
Foreclosure filings in 24 counties tracked by distressed Gorilla Capital rose in July, reaching 594. In Multnomah County, there were 91 court foreclosures and 25 nonjudicial Notice & Sale filings. The company predicts increase in foreclosure filings in August and September.
But analytics company CoreLogic has just released data that suggests that in June, Mortgage foreclosures in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro area were down to 1.65 percent.
It is possible that the disconnect between the two sets of figures could indicate that foreclosures are finally catching up with us, following delays caused by legislation introduced in an effort to deal with unfair practices by lenders.
For example, changes to Oregon’s mediation law prompted a flood of requests for face-to-face meetingsbetween lenders and homeowners with delinquent mortgages, slowing down foreclosures. The legislation was introduced to close the loophole that allowed banks to avoid face-to-face meetings with borrowers.
CoreLogic’s figure represents a decrease of 0.68 percentage points compared the same month last year, when the rate was 2.33 percent.
Foreclosure activity in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro was lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 1.70 percent for June 2014.
The mortgage delinquency rate decreased in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro. In June 2014, 3.52 percent of mortgage loans were 90 days or more delinquent compared to 4.63 percent for the same period last year, representing a decrease of 1.11 percentage points.
Click here to read the story on the Portland Business Journal’s website.