Foreclosures hit record in '06, but could drop this year

Foreclosures hit a record high in 2006, but there may be indications the trend is reversing.

Weld County foreclosures hit 2,073 for 2006, more than 500 more than in 2005, according to the Public Trustee's Office. And through the first three working days of 2007, 45 more foreclosures had been filed with that office, which processes paperwork and fees for foreclosures.

But John Green, an area economist in Fort Collins, said total foreclosure numbers could drop in 2007.

"If all the prognosticators are right, we're going to see employment growth in Weld and Larimer counties in the coming year. Employment growth means an increased demand for housing," Green said. "We may be seeing the bulge in foreclosures as a result of the terms of all those unwise mortgages that people got in the last year."

Green said he thinks a high number of foreclosures may continue for another three to five months, "but I don't see that continuing for the whole year."

Steve Baker with Sears Real Estate said that while he hasn't looked at the end-of-the-year numbers, he said foreclosures in Greeley are not localized in one spot. There have been very few foreclosures, he added, on the upper-end-priced homes.

He too, sees indications of a reversal in the high foreclosure trend.

"We have a lot of investor buyers looking at our prices right now. There are some prices on single family homes I haven't seen in six or seven years and I've been in this business in Greeley for 11 years," Baker said. Prices have decreased significantly in some cases, he added.

Baker said he saw his business decline in 2006, "not enough to go jump off a building, but it was down."

That too, may be changing.

"I'm seeing some aggression coming back in the single-family home buyer," he said.

Larry Burkhardt, president of Greeley-based Upstate Colorado Economic Development, said he's been hearing optimistic news that the foreclosure trend may soon be reversing.

"I don't know that I can back that up, but I'm hearing it from a lot of different places," Burkhardt said. And, he added, he is "very close" to closing on a couple of deals that will bring an additional 400-500 new jobs to the Greeley area although he would not yet disclose what companies he is working with.

"I was at a legislative meeting (Thursday) morning and there was a newly elected legislator who said he sees a real turn around in real estate in 2008. But that has to start this year," Burkhardt said.