The Foreclosure Report

A "Continuous Climb" For Dallas/Ft Worth

The Dallas Morning News reports from Texas. "Homes posted for foreclosure auction in April rose 18 percent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area from the same month last year, the Foreclosure Listing Service said Thursday. That's up slightly from the 15 percent increase in the first three months of the year compared with the same period a year earlier."

"'We're not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet,' said George Roddy, who heads the Addison-based research firm. 'We have not seen year-on-year figures go down in the last few years. It's just a continuous climb from 2001 to this date.'"

"In the 10-county Dallas-Fort Worth area, 3,452 homes are posted for foreclosure auction in April."

"'There's really not a good reason for foreclosures to go down,' he said. 'The only reason they would is if lenders tighten up their lending practices, if they turn away people who don't have good credit.'"

"'We could be in for a little bit of a shakeout,' said Craig Jarrell, who oversees the Dallas-area operations of Pulaski Mortgage Co. 'I'm afraid that we've just begun to see the effects of all the negative factors: the subprime, the delinquencies, the rate adjustments on the ARMs.'"

"Home prices could fall in neighborhoods with lots of foreclosures, Mr. Jarrell said. 'There's going to be a little bit of pain,' he said. 'But we can handle it, and I think the economy is mudding through it.'"

"In North Texas, Collin County had the largest increase in foreclosure postings for April, up 40 percent from the same month a year ago, according to Foreclosure Listing Service. Over the same period, foreclosure postings rose 11 percent in Dallas County, 20 percent in Tarrant County, 20 percent in Denton County and 29 percent in Rockwall County."

"Total residential foreclosure postings since the start of 2007 numbered 14,307, up 15 percent from the comparable period a year ago."

"Texas has been one of the nation's top foreclosure markets in recent years. 'What it tells us is that we're in the midst of some sad economic times for a lot of people,' Mr. Roddy said."

posted by Ben Jones @ 12:32 PM