Tallahassee Foreclosures Show Encouraging Trend

While the past two blog posts have demonstrated bad news for the Tallahassee real estate market, there is some good news to be found in the Tallahassee Foreclosure Report. I will updating our foreclosure pages this weekend, but I wanted to share the positive trend today.

Each month, we look at the reports filed with Leon County on new Lis Pendens filings (the beginning of a new foreclosure) as well as the report of all new foreclosure sales (the completion of a foreclosure). We graph both elements in order to see the trend of activity in the distressed home sales market, and to gain an understanding of how these properties will be impacting the supply of homes for sale in Tallahassee.

Foreclosures Continue To Fall In Tallahassee

Our first real estate graph shows that the trend of foreclosure sales continues on its decline. Even though our list of distressed properties for sale in Tallahassee is still very high, we are seeing more short sales occur to stave off foreclosure. Last month 36 properties were foreclosed upon, which is down from 57 a year ago. We need to continue to monitor foreclosure activity, because many foreclosures were slowed due to new banking oversight, and there is a likelihood that we will see a resumption in foreclosure activity.

The next real estate graph shows that not only are foreclosure sales on the decline, but so too are lis pendens filings. Tallahassee lis pendens filings are still incredibly high, but the annual filing rate has dropped from over 2,000 units per year in December 2009 to roughly 1/2 that rate through May of this year.

There is no shortage of supply of distressed homes in our housing market, and home sellers must understand that values will continue to slide for the next several years and we work through this large inventory of short sales, foreclosures, and reo properties. Currently, about 1 in every 4 home sales in Tallahassee is a distressed property sale, and that trend is still on the rise.

Home sellers must understand there is no "wait until next year" solution, rather they must either plan to wait no less than 5 to 7 years to see the same values as today, or sell their home immediately to get their highest price.

If you need to sell a home, or think you should sell your Tallahassee home, just follow this link to set an appointment and I will help you understand your options. I will help you understand the supply and demand for your specific home, and what a progressive home selling plan can to do help you get the highest price possible for your home. Whether or not you choose to sell your home, at least you can be armed with the most up-to-date information available.