Foreclosures

Foreclosures

up in county,

may continue

to increase

By Stephen Dareing

Rappahannock News Staff Writer

Foreclosures were up in Rappahannock County 450 per cent in 2008 over tfye previous year, according to court records. "

In real numbers it means the county had four foreclosures in 2007 and 18 in 2008. Currently, there are 11 properties in foreclosure and for sale listed on RealtyTrac.com - a distressed real estate tracking site.

Court sources say there are indications that foreclosures could continue to rise - many people come to them to ask questions about how to handle foreclosures without knowing that the court simply records them - and that these inquiries have picked up a little going into the new year. But there is also no sure way to predict the number of foreclosures, these sources said, except bv watching the news about unemployment and layoffs.

Three of the properties - entered into foreclosure this month - would bring the total foreclosed properties since the end of 2007 to 21, or a 525 percent increase over the last 13 months.

These numbers represent a ratio of one property in 622 in foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac, compared to one in 299 in Fairfax County or one ip 121 in Prince William County. Statewide, the higher percentages of foreclosures are in Northern Virginia down through Richmond and over to Virginia Beach. The western and southern half of the state has been much less impacted.

These figures may not truly represent the extent of the impact the financial crisis is having on homeowners, however, as many are forced to sell at losses to avoid foreclosure. This is called “short selling" and many real estate agents nationally are capitalizing on this growing market segment.

But some area real estate agents say they haven’t seen a surge of distressed properties and foreclosure sales in the county. In fact, they say business is starting to show signs of returning to normal.

See HOMES, Page A6