Bank owned property listings in 12 counties in Colorado surged by substantial rates in January, based on foreclosure sales data from the Colorado Division of Housing.

A total of 1,917 homes were sold at public foreclosure sales in January in the 12 counties, a whopping increase of 61 percent from total foreclosure sales in January 2009.

Foreclosure sales typically occur a number of months after filing because of various delays in county proceedings or in the response of lenders to court proceedings.

In Colorado, the foreclosure process usually starts when a lender files a demand notice with the office of the public trustee of the county where the distressed property is located.

Mesa County posted the highest rate of increase in foreclosure activity in January, as its total foreclosure sales soared by almost 338 percent to 70 units of sales.

Boulder County was next with an increase rate of almost 210 percent from 21 units in January last year to 65 units in January this year. Pueblo County was third with an increase rate of almost 132 percent from 41 units to 95 units.

All of the 12 counties tracked by the state housing division contributed substantially to the overall increase in properties entering bank owned property listings in January this year.

As bank listings surged, foreclosure filings also climbed up. Mesa County again posted the highest rate of increase. Filings soared by 159 percent to 145 filings in January this year from 56 filings last year.

Boulder County again was second, posting a 39-percent increase rate. Jefferson County was third with 21 percent.

Statewide filings decreased, however, from 2,819 filings in January last year to 2,729 filings this year. The number also marked a drop of 17 percent from the January 2008 postings of 3,303 units.

The biggest rate of decrease occurred in the county of Douglas, where filings fell by 26 percent to 141, down from 190 filings in January last year.

Foreclosure activity also slowed in the counties of Pueblo and Weld, where filings dropped by 19 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

According to Ryan McMaken, director of communications of the state housing division, the foreclosure data reflects economic difficulties in certain counties. He said that the rates of growth of bank owned property listings and foreclosure filings in Mesa County were the highest in Colorado for metropolitan counties monitored in the report.

The number of bank owned properties in Georgia, particularly in metro Atlanta, are expected to be contained in the next few months after Wells Fargo and its subsidiary Wachovia Bank agreed to delay foreclosure actions in Atlanta and neighboring areas.

The decision of Wells Fargo was in part driven by protests being staged in Atlanta against lenders for the sharp increase of foreclosures in the state and in the metro area.

In the most recent report on foreclosures nationwide, Georgia is still among states with the highest rates of foreclosure in the July to September quarter. With a foreclosure rate of one in 119 homes, Georgia is seventh in the ranking. It posted more than 33,000 foreclosure filings, including 11,243 REO units and more than 22,000 trustee sale notices.

Compared to both the previous quarter and the third quarter of 2008, Georgia’s foreclosure rate this year was higher. It increased by almost 7 percent from the April to June quarter and over 25 percent from last year’s third quarter.

In addition to being hit badly by foreclosures, Georgia has also been battered by bank failures, with 20 Georgia-based banks already closed. These banks loaded the real estate market with bank owned properties in both the commercial and residential sectors.

To step up efforts to help troubled borrowers, Wells Fargo and its unit Wachovia will offer loan assistance to borrowers having difficulties in making their monthly loan payments. This week and the following weeks, the two banks will also hold free workshops that will be handled by bank representatives and specialists able to help borrowers choose remedies to save their houses from foreclosure.

For homeowners who want to start negotiating with Wells Fargo, they can go to the bank’s web site and fill out the foreclosure assistance form. For others in Georgia whose home loans were not taken out from Wells Fargo, they can visit the web site of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department. The HUD web site is comprehensive because it leads users to web pages of agencies and HUD counselors working in their communities.

Additionally, the Wells Fargo web site offers information on several programs that contain bank owned properties such as the Project Lifeline, Fast-Track Solution and Hope Now Alliance. Project Lifeline focuses on homeowners who have defaulted by at least 3 months while Fast-Track Solution focuses on borrowers who took out adjustable rate mortgage and subprime loans.

This week, county officials started implementing an ordinance requiring mortgage lenders to pay the county $100 every time they file a foreclosure action. The money would help the county handle its expenses for managing vacant foreclosures.

According to Jim Blinck, head of code enforcement for Hillsborough County, the county has been overwhelmed with costs in maintaining vacant foreclosed properties because of the large number of foreclosures in the county.

Since January, nearly 2,000 new foreclosure actions were being filed by mortgage lenders each month. With the ordinance, the county can collect around $200,000 every month to be used for maintaining vacant foreclosures.

According to Blinck, much of the money would be used to monitor and maintain residential properties that are still in the foreclosure process but are not yet repossessed by banks. He added that it has been difficult to require foreclosure-bound homeowners to maintain their properties because oftentimes they no longer have interest or the money to continue caring for their properties.

According to law, the homeowner is the one responsible for maintaining a housing unit until it is repossessed by the bank and becomes a foreclosed property for sale, but oftentimes, distressed homeowners just stay in the houses and no longer do anything to maintain the properties while waiting for the eviction notice.

Another thing that has pushed the county to take over and maintain foreclosure properties for mortgage lenders and charge them for maintenance is the slow housing market in the area and the lengthy foreclosure procedure in Florida. In some cases, residential foreclosure actions are not being pursued immediately by lenders because of costs that they need to pay regularly after foreclosure, such as real estate taxes and homeowner association dues.

Blinck said that the task of cutting grasses in an abandoned foreclosed property may look simple, but it needs cutting equipment and a skilled lawn mowing operator.

According to Blinck, some mortgage lenders have been cooperative and supportive of the ordinance because they recognize the value of maintaining their properties and the positive impact of complying with ordinances in communities where they operate. They know that a maintained foreclosed property for sale will attract better purchase offers.

A total of 5,004 foreclosures were completed in the July to September quarter, marking an increase of 12.5 percent from the April to June quarter.

But the number of mortgage defaults decreased, dropping by 8.7 percent to 9,751 in the third quarter. The researchers contended that lenders deliberately slowed the pace of their foreclosure filings to control the flow of foreclosures into the market and to protect the slight recovery the market has been showing.

The researchers also said that lenders, in many cases, can cut their losses by allowing troubled homeowners to stay in their homes for a longer time so the properties are maintained.

Based on the report, about 87 percent of 31,854 foreclosed homes have been sold from February last year to July this year and that the remaining properties are either unoccupied or rented out. Statewide, 82 percent of foreclosed homes have been resold during the same period.

Since the housing crisis started in 2007, nearly 47,000 homes have been foreclosed in the counties of El Dorado, Amador, Nevada, Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba. As of last month, about 13,333 homes in the Sacramento region have entered foreclosed home listings.

Throughout California, a total of 460,757 residential units have been repossessed since the start of the crisis in 2007.

In the July to September quarter, the figures for foreclosures and defaults in capital-area counties followed one pattern. In all the eight counties, defaults were higher than foreclosures.

In Amador County, there were 73 foreclosures and 115 defaults. In El Dorado, there were 243 foreclosures and 629 defaults. In Nevada, there were 108 foreclosures and 337 defaults.

The highest number of foreclosures and defaults occurred in Sacramento, with 3,384 foreclosures and 6,098 defaults.

Placer County had 610 foreclosures and 1,414 defaults; Sutter had 152 foreclosures and 403 defaults; Yolo had 238 foreclosures and 443 defaults; and Yuba had 196 foreclosures and 443 defaults.

In another nationwide foreclosure report released this week, California was listed as third in foreclosure rate among all the states in the July to September quarter. The state still comprised the majority of all foreclosure postings in the country, with more than 250,000 California homes notified of foreclosure and default. Out of this large number, nearly 51,000 housing units entered real estate owned foreclosed home listings.

According to local investors, the growing pace of foreclosures in Northern Colorado, particularly Weld County, has put plenty of foreclosed single family houses into the market and has pushed down home prices.

A nationwide foreclosure report released this week showed that foreclosure postings in Colorado in the third quarter increased compared to both the previous quarter and the same quarter last year.

More than 16,200 households in Colorado received default or foreclosure notices from July to September and nearly 4,800 units entered lists of bank owned repossessed homes. With a foreclosure rate of one in 131 residential units, Colorado ranked 9th among states with the highest rates, next to 8th-placer Michigan and 7th-placer Georgia.

Colorado’s foreclosure rate rose by more than 11 percent from the April to June quarter and by more than 12 percent from the July to September quarter last year.

One local investor who has temporarily slowed down in his commercial real estate development efforts to go into residential investment is Windsor-based Martin Lind, who has just purchased four residential foreclosures for sale for $950,000 in downtown Greeley.

Lind explained that he and his business need to adjust to the times, grab viable investment opportunities and diversify. He said that buying the four residential properties was his first entry into the residential market. After playing in the commercial real estate market for years, his personnel now are adjusting and learning the fundamentals of the residential market.

James Woody is another investor snapping up home foreclosures for his rental portfolio. Over the past 12 months, he has purchased 33 foreclosed homes to add to his portfolio of more than 200 rental units, which are mostly rented out to college students.

Woody said he wants to buy some more foreclosures because of the attractive prices, but banks have tightened their lending and he has reached his limit.

According to the Everitt Real Estate Center of the Colorado State University, all major Northern Colorado housing markets experienced house price declines over the first six months of 2009 largely because of the low prices of foreclosures for sale. The price declines ranged from 3.2 percent in Boulder County, to 10 percent in Weld County and to more than 13 percent in the tri-cities of Firestone, Frederick and Dacono.

Last month, there were about 3,358 properties sold in Las Vegas, representing a 4 percent rise from the previous month and an increase of 20.7 percent compared with the same period the previous year.

For single-family houses, the median sale price was $138,000, an increase of $2,500 or 1.8 percent. However, the median sales price was still lower by 29.2 percent compared with last year. Prices of townhouses and condominiums dropped by $500 to $65,720 from August.

Meanwhile, home inventory dropped to 20,801 or 0.9 percent last month. The inventory declined by less than a 90-day supply, with about 7,909 houses on the market without any offer.

According to industry experts, there are two types of buyers who are driving property sales in the area. They are the first-time buyers who are rushing to complete a deal before the deadline for the $8,000 federal tax credit and investors loaded with cash who are grabbing bank owned properties at the low-end priced spectrum.

Experts said that investors who played a role on the continuing decline of home prices in Las Vegas accounted for 44 percent of the total monthly sales in the area. They said that the declining number of bank owned properties in the area may be due to the decision of banks to hold off releasing more repossessed homes on the market or the workout plan of the federal government.

They are hoping that the decline means that the loan modification program is working out as expected to show to distressed homeowners that fighting to save their houses from foreclosure is not a vain effort after all.

Meanwhile, industry experts noted that the flood of foreclosures they have anticipated to occur in Las Vegas has not happened. In August, the number of completed foreclosures declined to 1,944 compared with July, representing two consecutive months of decline.

Furthermore, the number of foreclosure dispositions surpassed the acquisition rate for six consecutive months.

On the other hand, many banks have a growing inventory of repossessed properties but they are holding off releasing them on the market. Industry experts said that it will be early next year that the market will start to be flooded with bank owned properties.

The result of the recent FDIC auction is good news for the condominium market, especially in the Tampa Bay area where a great number of development projects need a fresh infusion of capital. The success of the foreclosure event also bodes well to the state which has been struggling to revive condominium projects.

Barry Sternlicht of Starwood Capital Group led a group of investors who bid for condominium projects once owned by Corus Bank at the FDIC auction. Corus, a bank that specialized in condominium lending, was taken under federal control last month.

The FDIC auction of repossessed property for sale attracted about eight bidders. The condominium deal includes the FDIC as majority partner. Under the deal, the group of Starwood will get 40 percent equity share in the loan pool, paying $554 million. Sixty percent of the loan pool, amounting to $831.6 million goes to the FDIC.

Starwood partners, including Texas Pacific Group Capital, billionaire Wilbur Ross and Perry Capital, bid on the 112 construction loans under the Corus portfolio. According to market data, over two-thirds of the Corus portfolio are delinquent or in foreclosure.

Starwood and partners will need to decide on how they will handle the troubled condominium projects, their developers and properties that are at risk of foreclosure. Some of the troubled condominium projects in Tampa Bay area under the Corus portfolio are Element with $84.3 million debt, Tuscany with $23.5 million and Arbors at Branch Creek with a loan of $52.6 million and at Carrollwood with $47 million.

Meanwhile, other notable condominium buying deals include Minto Communities Inc.’s acquisition of a 352-acre condominium project located in Perico Island. The project was previously owned by St. Joe Co. According to Minto, it plans to continue the project according to the specifications of its previous owner. So far, the deal is the largest acquisition in southwest Florida.

Industry experts hope that the success of FDIC auction of repossessed property for sale would revive the condominium market in the area.

It is now a common sight in the city to see rows of abandoned and vacant buildings due to the continuing foreclosure crisis and the worsening economic condition. The figures provided by city officials do not include hundreds of thousands of empty lots.

Industry experts said that the number of foreclosures is staggering and it touches every area of the city, from the areas near the Kansas City International Airport to the inner city. Severely affected by the foreclosure problem is the urban core where one could find only one occupied house left in some streets.

The “Forbes” magazine has named Kansas City as the country’s most abandoned city due to high homeowner vacancy and rental rates. But city officials are quite critical about the label, arguing that Kansas City is better off compared with other cities, such as Detroit, Cleveland and Baltimore.

But still, the study called the attention of city officials on the growing foreclosure problem in the area. Industry experts said that before the study, nobody is aware of the extent of the foreclosed property for sale in the city. They added that many city neighborhoods are at risk of being abandoned that the areas will have a difficult time recovering.

Experts said that many neighborhoods are at critical juncture and the problem has affected more than just residents. They said that each resident in Kansas City must pay for the extra costs of enforcing city codes, mowing the lots, demolishing dilapidated buildings or boarding up abandoned houses.

Some experts said that the situation feels hopeless sometimes but the condition could get worst if no one will find a way to fight the foreclosure problem. Catholic priest, Reverend John Wandless has launched the Urban Ranger Corps initiative which aims to repair houses in the city to help young people who are at risk.

Wandless funded the initiative from his own pocket and so far, has spent almost $1.2 million since he started 2005. The initiative involves hiring youths to repair houses in neighborhoods. But the growing number of foreclosed property for sale has prevented Wandless from generating profit from houses that are being fixed to sustain his initiative.

In September, the number of foreclosure postings dropped slightly in Lee County, but the number of higher priced homes hit with default or foreclosure notices increased.

A total of 1,610 foreclosure postings were filed in September, a decrease from the 1,692 filings in August and a sharp drop from the 2,462 filings in September last year, according to the real estate association.

Jeff Tumbarello, head of the real estate association, said that one-third of the foreclosure properties had pools, indicating the higher cost of the properties and the higher income level of the communities where the properties are located.

According to Tumbarello, in the past several months, foreclosures largely consisted of low-cost houses and home lots bought by investors during the boom which they easily abandoned when home values began to go down.

Now, he said, home foreclosures are rising in pricey neighborhoods such as the central areas of Fort Myers. More homes in higher-cost communities are now entering bank foreclosure list although lower-priced houses in Cape Coral still account for 40 percent of foreclosures in Lee County and lower-cost homes in Lehigh Acres still account for 20 percent.

Michael Timmerman, a senior associate of economic consulting company Fishkind & Associates, said that the persistence of the recession has hurt even households that took out prime loans and that are earning incomes expected to survive the downturn.

In August, unemployment rose to 13.5 percent in Lee County, based on data from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation. The rate increased slightly from the 13.3 percent adjusted rate in July and rose sharply from 9.2 percent in August last year.

More than 36,500 people in Lee County were looking for jobs in August, a slight drop from 36,625 in July and approximately 10,000 more than the number of job seekers in August 2008.

The number of non-agricultural jobs declined by about 15,800 in August while jobs in the local government sector climbed up by 8.9 percent because of the rehiring of support personnel. Jobs in the hospitality sector decreased by 5.7 percent as the number of tourists declined and as families prepare their children for school.

Just like in other areas of the country, unemployment continues to put housing units into bank foreclosure list as seen in Lee County’s foreclosure filings.

Based on a report from the Florida Association of Realtors, sales of detached single-family houses in August in Miami-Dade rose by 22 percent compared to sales in August last year as the median sales price fell to $194,800, a substantial drop of 29 percent.

Sales of condo units also increased by 17 percent as the median sales price for condos dropped to $144,700, another significant drop of 31 percent.

Sales increases and price declines also occurred in Broward. Sales of detached single-family homes increased by 35 percent as the median sales price fell to $217,000, a drop of 20 percent from August last year. Sales of condos soared by 61 percent as the median sales price for condos fell to $85,100, a decline of 36 percent.

Mike Pappas, CEO of real estate firm Keyes Company, said there are a lot of signs indicating that houses in the lower end of the market have reached their lowest price levels, so investors and buyers competing to grab the properties have been fueling the buying frenzy.

Pappas added that in 2008, auctions for foreclosures in Florida had difficulties attracting buyers. Now, he said, every distressed property is attracting bids from 10 to 15 buyers. He added that the buying frenzy is one indication that the market is bottoming out.

Based on the August foreclosure report issued by a real estate research firm, nearly 8,900 houses in Miami-Dade were distressed or already foreclosed. In Broward, almost 10,200 housing units were distressed or already foreclosed.

A Cooper City real estate agent said that all the homes she has sold so far were either foreclosed or distressed. She added that she could have sold more if there were more foreclosure properties available for sale in the low- to moderate-price ranges.

She related that she recently submitted a bid for a foreclosed house in Hollywood, but she failed to get the house because there were 24 other bidders. The bank asked only $77,000 for the 3-bedroom home, but it was eventually sold for over $100,000 because of the buying competition.

The buying frenzy for foreclosures in Florida has been successfully cutting down the number of unsold houses in Florida. The number of unsold houses dropped by 46 percent in Broward and dropped by 42 percent in Miami.