If you have been paying attention to what has been going on nationally, you know we just came out of the worst three months in American history for the number of foreclosures. Well, I have been keeping track of foreclosures in Harford County and it is not pretty.
During the first 9 months of 2009, there were 1,108 substitute trustee filings (foreclusures). In June there were 155 filings and in July there were a whopping 172 filings. The slowest month was February when there were "only" 93 filings. During 2008, we had a total of 967 which is bad enough. We are already more than 100 filings over last year and we still have three months to go. We are on a pace to have nearly 1,500 foreclosure filings in 2009.
I spoke with a client of mine who handles hundreds of properties in various states of foreclusure. He told me that the overwhelming majoritiy (95%) of these foreclosure properties are being purchased by owner occupants, not investors. This situation is forcing prices downward. I often hear people say they are going to wait to do something until the prices stablize and start going back up. If you are waiting for prices to return to pre-recession levels, you will be waiting for years. What we are going through right now is historic. The sooner you come to grips with the reality of our circumstances, the sooner you will be able to adapt and survive.