Repo Houses for Sale Spiked in Southwest Florida in 2009

Repo houses for sale surged in number in Southwest Florida in 2009, based on data from a California foreclosure tracking firm.

More than 27,000 homes entered foreclosure in the counties of Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte in 2009, a jump of 20 percent from foreclosure actions in 2008.

In Sarasota and Manatee, one homeowner out of every 19 residential units was notified of foreclosure, and in Charlotte, one out of every 15 residential units fell into default or foreclosure.

In December, 447 homes in the county of Sarasota were taken back by banks, a significant jump from only 97 in the previous month. Sarasota posted the fourth biggest number among Florida counties in December.

While Sarasota registered a month-over-month increase in December, foreclosures in Charlotte and Manatee dropped by ten percent from November, although Charlotte posted a 12-percent increase compared to December 2008.

Despite being a smaller county based on population, Sarasota posted much higher foreclosures in December than counties with much higher number of households such as Orange County, Palm Beach and Hillsborough County. Orange County posted 281 repo houses for sale in December, Palm Beach posted 261 units and Hillsborough posted 251 units.

Real estate businesswoman Kathy Marlowe said that the number of bank-repossessed properties increased in 2009, particularly in Sarasota, but she added that banks are still holding off on a lot of properties, either by not releasing properties in their current inventories or by not completing their foreclosure proceedings.

Marlowe said that buyers are looking for more repo properties in Southwest Florida, but banks have been regulating the release of units into the market.

Additionally, foreclosure numbers could have been higher in the region if the state mediation program and other nonprofit-sponsored foreclosure prevention initiatives were not implemented.

Statewide, nearly 517,000 residential units entered foreclosure in 2009, with more than 55,000 units notified in December. December marked another month of increases, as total foreclosures for the month marked a four-percent jump from November and a nine-percent jump from December 2008.

Real estate consultant and analyst Jack McCabe stated that foreclosures will still increase in Florida in 2010 because of continued economic difficulties.

McCabe also said that the refusal of banks to reduce principal amounts is also seen as a major reason for the failure of the Home Affordable Modification Program to cut down the number of repo houses for sale in Florida and in other states.

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