Austin Metro foreclosure postings have dropped to a 28-month low

The filing deadline has passed for foreclosure postings to be filed at county courthouses throughout the State of Texas for the upcoming foreclosure auctions to be held on Tuesday, May 3^rd, 2011.  Therefore, Foreclosure Listing Service, Inc. has completed our research of the May foreclosure postings.

 In a meeting today, George Roddy, Sr., President of Foreclosure Listing Service, Inc., announced “Austin Metro foreclosure postings have dropped to a 28-month low.”

 Mr. Roddy continued, “For the upcoming foreclosure auctions on May 3^rd, just 974 postings have been filed on properties located in the Austin area.  This marked the lowest level of monthly foreclosure notices since January of 2009 when 831 postings were filed.”

 However, the foreclosure analyst cautioned, “Although this is welcome news, I must caution this is only the second month in a row that foreclosure postings have dropped compared to one year earlier.  No matter how welcomed the news or how deep the drop, this does not reverse a longstanding trend. During the previous 27 consecutive months, the volume of foreclosure filings in the Austin Metro exceeded 1,000 each month; and, in 13 of those months, foreclosure postings surged above 1,300.”

 Mr. Roddy commented, “I believe this is an artificial decline in foreclosure notices due to the tremendous scrutiny applied by regulators during recent months in response to publicity about past problems with the foreclosure process, including robo-signing.”

 The foreclosure researcher, who’s firm has been tracking foreclosure activity for more than four decades, remarked, “This month’s drop in postings is certainly welcome news. But, quite frankly, I believe that we are not out of the woods yet and will not be for some time to come. It remains a sad time for those families losing their homes to foreclosure; but, a great time of opportunity for investors and others buying homes in today’s market.”

Mr. Roddy elaborated, “The fallout from this foreclosure crisis is going to take a long time to work through.”

He stated, “While some will want to jump for joy and claim that job gains in Texas over the last year was the catalyst, there has simply not been enough growth yet, nor has it been for a significantly sustained period of time.”

“In addition,” Mr. Roddy commented, “even re-employment in today’s market does not assure that a family’s bills will be paid because many workers are being hired at wages far lower than at their previous job.”

 “May’s 974 foreclosure postings was a far cry from the record high set in December of last year when 1,561 postings were reported in the four-county metro.  In this foreclosure cycle, monthly foreclosure postings have topped 1,500 two times,” he said.

 Mr. Roddy added, “This was the second month in a row that foreclosure postings in the four-county area were lower than at the same time last year.”

 “On a month-to-month basis,” Mr. Roddy said, “postings fell -29% compared to the 1,380 foreclosure notices recorded for the April auctions in the four-county Metro.”

 Asked about foreclosure activity in each of the local counties, Mr. Roddy commented, “All four counties located within the Austin Metro experienced a decline in May’s volume of foreclosure postings compared to one year earlier.”

 “By county,” he stated, “the largest decline in May’s foreclosure posting activity in the four-county Austin Metro was the -23% fall reported in Bastrop County.  This was followed by a -19% decline in May’s postings in Travis County.”

 MAY FORECLOSURE POSTINGS in OTHER PARTS OF THE STATE

 Mr. Roddy commented, “Foreclosure postings for the upcoming auctions in May dropped to a 28-month low in the Austin Metro.  But, in the Dallas-Fort Worth, the fall was more pronounced with postings for May reaching a 40-month low.  In Bexar County, foreclosure notices declined to a 30-month low