American Data Providers

As The Treasure Valley witnessed distressed properties increase steadily from 2007 throughout 2008, many people were wondering just how long it would last. As we enter July of 2009 foreclosure rates show no sign of slowing down. In fact just the opposite may be next to come as many government and banks' self imposed foreclosure moratoriums are set to expire. This may cause another "wave" of foreclosure starts to be filed as these entities are likely to move more aggressively to funnel through the backlog of trouble loans that these moratoriums have created. Although we have seemed to level off with between 700 and 800 foreclosure starts every month, this may be just another stepping stone in the path of the foreclosure peak to come. So far in 2009 a total of 4385 defaults have been filing in the Ada and Canyon Counties. This is up 96% from 2008 when 2232 defaults were filed in the same period.

"The expiration of these 'Moratoriums' is only one variable in the equation" Idaho Data Providers.com President Charlie Nate said. "Other variables are still having a big impact on the foreclosure equation. Rising numbers of foreclosures are still depressing home values as a whole and pushing more homeowners under water. Some areas of the Treasure Valley have experienced as much as a 28% decrease in home values. Unemployment has continued to climb and has reached a 22 year high statewide and consumer confidence is extremely low" Nate Stated.

Ada County foreclosure starts have set a new record every month in 2009, with the exception of April which still had an overwhelming 424 filings. May's all time record of 477 new foreclosure starts has already been broken with June registering a new all time record of 493 filings! Compared to one year ago in Ada County, default filings are up 120% when 224 defaults were filed in June of 2008.

Canyon County saw its first drop in foreclosure starts in a long time in the month of April when starts were down 16% from the record number of 346 filings set in March. May registered an increase that was the second highest month in history with 307 defaults filed. Now in June we see another slight decrease with 279 Foreclosure starts filed which is a 9% decrease from May. Compared to one year ago Canyon County default filings are up 69% when 165 homes had a default filed against them.

As the graph below illustrates, the line for total new foreclosures monthly has leveled off for the past few months. "It looks as if we will be holding steady at this plateau of 700 - 800 new defaults for several months to come" Idaho Data Providers.com President Charlie Nate said.

As short Sales have been the new name of the game in the foreclosure arena nationally, that is also the case here locally for the Treasure Valley. With 1540 short sales listed in the beginning of 2009 the number of Short Sales has continually increased each month. May saw a 6.4% increase with 2,544 Short Sale listings and June is up slightly with another 3.0% increase ending the month with 2,643 short sales active or pending in the local market.

REO listings have seen a slight decrease in the past couple of months which looked to be a good sign for the local real estate market. Total REO's dropped a total of 9.8 % in the past two months to reach a low point of 986 listings. June rebounded significantly however, with 1,011 REO's listed, a 2.5% increase

Lender REO (Real Estate Owned) properties are those that the lender obtains title to after a foreclosure auction when no one else buys the property at auction. When a REO property is then listed by the lender, it is usually sold at a discount off of market value. These discounted properties are similar to short sales by having the effect of depressing overall market prices.

IdahoDataProviders.com (IDP) is a local foreclosure data company, which tracks all loans entering foreclosure on a daily basis in Ada, Canyon and Kootenai Counties. IDP also collects information on foreclosures filed in every county in Idaho. Since foreclosure data is collected by IDP as soon as it becomes available, our information is the most current information available from any source for Idaho.

Established in July 2006, IDP is Idaho's leader for dependable foreclosure information and education. IDP provides detailed profile pages for each property in foreclosure. IDP also regularly offers seminars to educate investors and the general public on all aspects of the foreclosure process.

As foreclosures continue to rise, the opportunity to purchase property below market value has never been better. Lenders are reducing the prices of their foreclosure properties by offering them at discounts to the public. To take advantage of IDP's extensive database of property listings and educational seminars, log on to www.IdahoDataProviders.com or contact Charlie Nate at 208-860-6786.