Jeff Raw with Prudential Georgia Realty sent me this chart with the following comments:
“Remember the headlines from a few years ago. The states that were national leaders for foreclosures were Florida, California, Arizona, Nevada and yes – Georgia! The chart above from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows a different picture today. Florida and California are still leading the pack – but now Illinois, New York and New Jersey are in the top 5. Georgia has dropped to the #7 position. Florida and California have had almost 800,000 foreclosures versus 62,000 in Georgia.”
To enhance this analysis, you have to assess Georgia’s foreclosures as a percentage of our available housing stock. However, Georgia’s drop in the rankings suggests the local market is headed for brighter days. We follow the foreclosures in DeKalb and Fulton counties very closely. Our research shows a significant drop in foreclosure notices in these counties as compared to the 2009 and 2010 levels. Many attribute this to a slow down in notices related to the robo-signing issue. Georgia is a non-judicial foreclosure state and foreclosures can happen relatively quickly. The robo-signing related to states with a judicial foreclosure process so it is hard to tell if lenders affected by the robo-signing mess are delaying foreclosures in Georgia or if we are beginning to work our way of of the mess. I believe it may be a little bit of both.