St. Louis-area foreclosures ease in first quarter
Evidence continues to mount that the mortgage crisis may be easing.
The number of houses facing foreclosure in the St. Louis region dropped to its lowest level in at least two years in the first quarter, according to numbers out today from RealtyTrac.
While still high by historic standards, the number of St. Louis-area houses in the later stages of the foreclosure process was down 15.7 percent compared with the first three months of 2009.
It’s another sign that the local housing market is beginning to stabilize, and that banks are more willing and able to work out loan modifications.
Nationally, the figures are still grim.
The number of houses set for auction or repossessed surged 26.4 percent compared with the same period last year. Much of that is driven by a handful of states — Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada — where vast numbers of high-priced mortgages are underwater, giving homeowners little room to maneuver if they lose a job or need to sell their house fast cheap pay day loans.
Seventy percent of foreclosures in the first quarter were in 10 states, RealtyTrac reports, most of which had either a housing bubble or particularly high unemployment or both.
In a separate report out Wednesday, the Treasury Department said about one million households were making lower mortgage payments in March under its $50 billion Home Affordable Modification Program. That number is basically unchanged from the month before.
The government says about 1.8 million borrowers are eligible for HAMP; at the end of last year, roughly 8 million borrowers were behind on payments.
Filed under: finance by Finance Boss