FORECLOSURE FILINGS CLIMB AS FALL APPROACHES

Sept 12 2014

EUGENE, Ore. — Football season has kicked off. Summer vacation is over. Fall is just a few weeks away as total foreclosures increased during the dog days of August for a second consecutive month in the 24 Oregon counties monitored by Gorilla Capital. Last month 656 foreclosures were filed compared to 600 in July and 522 in June. The most foreclosures filed in one month this year was in May, when 672 were filed.

“Oregon’s beautiful foliage won’t be the only thing changing this fall,” said John Helmick, CEO of Gorilla Capital.  “Foreclosure filings will continue to increase during the next few months and then will take its annual dip around the holidays. I believe lenders will continue to be aggressive as foreclosure filings from months ago are finally working through the state mandatory pre-foreclosure timeframes and borrowers are through the state-mandated processes.”

August non judicial (Notice & Sale) foreclosure filings tallied 215 compared to146 in July; nine fewer filings than in June. Court foreclosures dropped to 441 in August from 454 in July and 365 in June.

“More lenders are taking the non judicial route to settle foreclosure cases, which moves all involved on a path to heal the housing market more quickly,” Helmick said.  “I expect non judicial foreclosure filings to continue to increase while judicial foreclosures will continue to decline.”

Also, Gorilla reports that 40% of the foreclosed homes they purchased in Oregon were vacant this past month.

“Zombie homes continue to plaque neighborhoods,” Helmick said. “All the more reason to get foreclosed homes through the process, remodeled, and on the market.”