Md. foreclosure rate in top 10 for third straight month

August 16, 2010
Washington Examiner
By: David Sherfinski

Maryland racked up nearly 7,000 foreclosure filings in July, landing it among the 10 worst states in the nation for the third straight month. There were 6,981 foreclosure filings in the state -- a 35 percent increase from a year ago -- which translated to a rate of one in every 335 homes and the 10th-worst rate in the country.

Virginia saw 5,072 filings during July, a 20 percent drop from 2009. Its rate of one in 652 houses was 22nd in the country.

"I do think what's happening in Maryland is almost a catchup to some of the delays from last year," said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac, which markets and sells foreclosed properties. The national rate was one in 397, the company said. Filings include default notices, auctions and bank-owned properties.

In 2008, Maryland lengthened the foreclosure process from 15 to 150 days, made mortgage fraud a crime and prohibited other predatory practices. The state legislature passed a law this year that requires lenders to consider loan modifications and charges them $300 to start foreclosure proceedings.

In Virginia, filings were down from a year ago in all of the area jurisdictions, including a 62 percent drop in Fairfax County and a 55 percent drop in Prince William County, which was the poster child for the housing crisis just several years ago. The District had just 228 -- a 56 percent drop from a year ago.

Still, July marked a slowdown in the housing market throughout the region. The monetary volume of sales for the District, Montgomery, Fairfax, Arlington County, Alexandria and Falls Church fell for the first time in 14 months, according to local real estate agent Donna Evers.

"It is unusual for the metro area to wait until July to experience such a slowdown," she said. "The record heat may have been a factor, as well as the slower sales of more expensive properties."