In Loudoun, Virginia, the growth of repo house listings seems to be slowing down, but housing analysts in the area fear that the resetting of many adjustable-rate mortgage loans taken by residents during the boom years starting 2004 would put more properties into repo house listings.
Based on real estate data for the South Riding area, a total of 696 houses entered repo house listings in the first half of 2009, marking a 31 percent decline from the 1,005 houses that went into repo house listings in the first half of 2008.
Because of the significant decline, residents of Loudoun have started to hope that the housing sector is finding its way to recovery.
During many months in 2008, homeowners in Loudoun were concerned about the continued growth of foreclosures in the area and the continued decline in home prices. Even if many of them had lower risks of foreclosure or had already fully paid their houses, they were worried about the sharp declines in home values and possible deterioration of neighborhoods.
Several of them who were contemplating on moving or making family-related decisions were worried that they cannot sell their homes at favorable prices.
Now they feel relief that the pace of growth of repo house listings is slowing down.
In the first half of 2009, the number of houses in Loudoun which received default or foreclosure notices fell by around 24 percent to 2,226 units, compared to the first half of 2008.
In the first 6 months of 2008, a total of 2,912 Loudoun houses were in default or in foreclosure.
In Sterling, the section of Loudoun which had the highest number of foreclosure filings, the pace of foreclosures also slowed down. In the first half of 2009, the number of houses in default or in foreclosure dropped to only 805, compared to the 1,209 units in the first half of 2008.
In Ashburn, foreclosure filings also declined, dropping from 560 units in the first half of 2008 to 427 units this year.
Broadlands homeowner association president Cliff Keirce said things seem to be going better, as shown in the association’s assessment fees.
Similarly, Ashburn Farm association head Laura Plummer said she is cautiously optimistic about the decline in foreclosures.
However, housing analyst Rosemary DeButts is concerned about the expected resetting of five-year-cap ARMs which were made to Loudoun borrowers during the boom years. Homes owned by underwater borrowers with ARMs could get added to repo houses lists when these ARMs reset to much higher rates.
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