Foreclosures surge in St. Louis in April

By Tim Logan

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

05/13/2010

Foreclosure activity in the St. Louis region spiked in April as banks pulled the trigger on more repossessions after several months of delay.

The number of houses either set for a foreclosure sale or actually taken back hit its highest level since September, according to data from RealtyTrac, and jumped 21 percent from the same month last year. In all, 1,090 houses were given an auction date and 789 repossessed in the 17-county metro area.

It's a troubling sign after several quieter months on the foreclosure front but one that housing advocates have been warning about. Banks have been delaying foreclosures and offering trial modifications, with mixed results. And stubbornly high unemployment means more borrowers are strapped for cash to pay their mortgages, regardless of interest rates.

The rough month for St. Louis comes as national foreclosure rates appear to be plateauing. RealtyTrac reported that foreclosure activity nationwide fell 2 percent from last April, its first year-over-year decline on record.

Commentary:

Interesting development considering the national RealtyTrac numbers nationally were described to have reached a 'plateau' and even improved in quite a few cases.

We have seen a marked increase in short sales and foreclosures in the mid to higher price ranges - levels where the supply / demand imbalance for the St Louis Housing Market is well off - months of inventory between a low of 6.5 to as high as 18 months for price ranges above $800K.

Here are the actual #s for short sales and foreclosures for the past 4 weeks - as listed in the local St Louis MLS.

Here are some interesting figures from St Louis Blockshopper:

This shows the % of Sales in the past year that were Foreclosures and became Bank Owned (REO)

12.7 - Ballwin
17.0 - Valley Park
19.2 - Winchester

13.4 - O'Fallon
15.5 - Wentzville
14.2 - Lake St Louis

14.9 - Mehlville
24.3 - Lemay

29.0 - Florissant
26.6 - Hazelwood
35.3 - Jennings

9.38 - Ladue
8.57 - Town and Country

Courtesy of Blockshopper .. click the link if you want to look up specifics ..
http://stlouis.blockshopper.com/foreclosures