2010 a record year for foreclosure filings in Dallas-Fort Worth
November 19, 2010
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

Dallas-Fort Worth home foreclosure filings hit a record in 2010 – but not by much.

For all of this year, 63,835 homes have been posted for foreclosure in the four-county area, Foreclosure Listing Service said Thursday. That's only 4 percent higher than 2009's total.

Foreclosure postings in North Texas were up more than 20 percent in 2009 and 17 percent in 2008.

"The rate of increase has slowed, and it looks like 2010 is kind of the pivotal year as far as foreclosures here are concerned," said George Roddy, president of the Addison-based foreclosure-tracking firm. "But they are still going to be high into 2011."

Filings for December foreclosure sales have already been made, so the full-year numbers are available.

The biggest increase in home foreclosure filings this year was in Denton County, which was up 10 percent from 2009.

Dallas County residential foreclosure filings rose only 2 percent for 2010.

So far, foreclosure moratoriums caused by problems with lender paperwork and procedures haven't affected the rate of D-FW foreclosure filings.

For December's auctions, almost 6,100 North Texas homes are threatened with foreclosure – 16 percent more than a year earlier. It was only the third month in 2010 that postings topped 6,000.

Roddy said it's too early to forecast the results of lenders' foreclosure problems and calls for government intervention in the process.

"It's becoming more muddled as to what the outcome is," he said. "Will it be massive lawsuits?

"And what will the impact be on the consumer and home values?"

Not all the foreclosure postings each month result in home sales by lenders. In more than half the cases, the foreclosure is delayed or the borrower makes a new agreement with the mortgage company.

The mortgage data released Thursday showed that more Texans fell behind on their home payments in the third quarter. Almost one in 10 of the state's residents with home loans was at least one month late at the end of September, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. That's slightly higher than the nationwide home loan delinquency rate, which was 9.39 percent in the third quarter.

Late mortgage payment levels in Texas rose to 9.65 percent in the quarter but were slightly below where they were a year earlier, the mortgage industry group said.

In the third quarter, 1.82 percent of Texas home loans were in foreclosure. That's less than half the national foreclosure rate of 4.39 percent.

"Texas was one of just 11 states to see its foreclosure rate below 2 percent," said Scott Norman, president of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association.

The states with the highest foreclosure rates in the third quarter were Florida, at 13.68 percent, and Nevada, at 9.72 percent.

Mortgage economists aren't looking for a substantial improvement in late loan payments and foreclosures until the economy grows stronger.

"Most often, homeowners fall behind on their mortgages because their income has dropped due to unemployment or other causes," said Michael Fratantoni, the Mortgage Bankers Association vice president of research and economics, in the report.

"As we anticipate that the unemployment rate will be little changed over the next year, we also expect only modest improvements in the delinquency rate."

Courtesy The Dallas Morning News
See the article in its entirety here!