While still experiencing a far lower number of foreclosures compared to other parts of the country, Seattle still has huge percentage spike in the number of new foreclosures in Q1 2009.
New information released by PropertyShark.com in their Q1 2009 Foreclosure Report shows that Seattle may only have had 601 foreclosures in the new quarter compared to 2,961 for Miami and 9,260 for LA, the huge difference came when looking at the quarter to quarter and year over year percentages.
New foreclosures in Seattle reached a two-year high in Q1 2009. The 601 foreclosures were 55% higher than in Q1 2008 and a staggering 88% higher than Q4 2008. While somewhat insulated until recently, the national recession and increased unemployment rates might be finally catching up with the Seattle real estate market.
We will have to pay close attention when the Q2 2009 Foreclosure Report is released to see if this was just a result of mortgage companies holding on foreclosures while the government rolled out the Home Affordable Modification initiative or that Seattle had just avoided the foreclosure mess till now.
