Sales of foreclosed homes drop in 2011

Foreclosure sales in 2011:

Fewer homes sold in the Dayton area in 2011 involved foreclosures, according to a new report released today by RealtyTrac Inc.

Last year in Montgomery County, 1,633 home properties in some stage of foreclosure were sold, almost 1 in 5 of all home sales , according to RealtyTrac. That was an approximately 30 percent drop in foreclosure-related sales from 2010.

Greene County, the second largest county in the four-county Dayton metro region, had 343 foreclosure-related sales in 2011, which was about 17.5 percent of all home sales and a more than 100 percent increase in foreclosure-related sales from the year before.

It’s the same trend the region saw in January for foreclosure filings made against properties, information actually released in February. A drop in foreclosure filings in Montgomery County at the beginning of the year caused local Realtors to say they think the worst of the local foreclosure crisis had passed. At the same time, the suburban counties of Greene and Miami saw increases in foreclosure filings in January, all according to data from RealtyTrac.

Real estate and bank experts said they expect to see one more bump in foreclosures from the $25 billion, multi-state foreclosure fraud settlement reached with the nation’s largest mortgage servicers before the end of the foreclosure crisis comes in sight.

This foreclosure sales report is a quarterly report RealtyTrac puts out to show how much foreclosures account for residential property sales. RealtyTrac also keeps track every month of foreclosure filings made against properties.

RealtyTrac, a California firm that tracks foreclosures nationwide, says foreclosure related sales are sales that occur while the property is actively in some stage of foreclosure, such as default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.