Culpeper Foreclosures

Despite what you read in the news media and hear from banks, in Culpeper County, at least, there does not appear to be much slowing down of foreclosures.

There were 78 new listings in Culpeper last month. 38 of those were foreclosures. Another 17 were short sales, meaning the house is worth less than it will sell for. That's 55 listings or just over 70% of new listings being bank owned or influenced.

It's going to be tough to get to a stabilized market as long as that's true. While Prince William county appears well on its way to a more normal real estate market; Culpeper county clearly still has  way to go.

So, what hapened to all the banks who were supposed to be holding off on any more foreclosures?

In general, we're seeing a long lag time between a foreclosure happening and that particular home being put up for sale. So, most of these homes that came on the market in February probably actually went into foreclosure some time in 2008.

If the banks really are following a moratorium on new foreclosures, I'd expect to see the impact of that in the April/May time frame. Will owner occupied homes then start to come back on the market to fill that void? I suspect that most will hold off waiting to see some evidence of appreciation in values.

That may mean the tightest inventory we've seen in Culpeper during the spring and summer for at least three years. And, if that happens, there may, finally be some good news for sellers.

Good news in this case simply means a stabilization of prices. I think we're still a long way from much in the way of seeing rising prices!

RE: Culpeper Foreclosures

Hey there- FYI there are 5 more that just went up in Riverdale, and 3 of the houses near us had the police leave notices on their front doors....i think it may get worse before it gets any better here in Culpeper!!!