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How Big Is Benicia-Vallejo’s Shadow Inventory?

Rod Herman — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:02:09 +0000

About a week ago, I listened to Rick Sharga, Sr. V.P. of Realty Trac, share his firm’s current foreclosure numbers. In his talk, one statistic really stood out: right now, there are 1 million foreclosures in the U.S., yet only 300,000 of them have come on the market.

In other words, 7 out of every 10 U.S. homes that the banks already own haven’t even hit the market yet. That’s the “shadow inventory” that you may have heard people talk about.

It prompted me to look at our local market a little closer and see how big our own shadow inventory is right now. The numbers were pretty startling. Not quite as large as the nationwide figures that Mr. Sharga talked about, but still pretty shocking nonetheless.

I looked at all five cities in our primary market area (Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun City & Vacaville) and found that about 3 of every 5 foreclosed homes have not yet come on the market.

Overall, 1,830 homes show up as bank-owned (REOs) in my foreclosure database right now, yet the banks have kept 59% of them (1,079) off the market.

Individually, here’s how the cities shape up:

Vallejo has 804 REOs, but 64% (515) haven’t come on the market.

Fairfield has 449 REOs, with 59% (263) yet to hit the market.

Vacaville has 332 REOs and 173 (52%) haven’t come on the market.

Benicia has the fewest REOs (83), yet 45 of them (54%) haven’t come on the market.

Suisun has 162 REOs, with a shadow inventory of 83 (51%).

But that’s only half the story.

In addition to those 1,800+ REOs, twice that number of homes are currently in the midst of the foreclosure process in those same five cities. And out of 3,500+ such homeowners, less than 1,400 have put their homes on the market.

In other words, another 2,100 homes are headed directly to foreclosure right now.

And to take it one step further, that doesn’t include those who’ve stopped paying their mortgage (or are about to do so), but who haven’t yet received an official Notice of Default, which formally starts the foreclosure clock.

So if you add it all up, right now more than 5,300 homes in Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun and Vacaville have either already been foreclosed upon or are heading that way. And only about 2,100 of those — or 40% — have come onto the housing market so far.

All of which means that we still have a ways to go before the local housing market turns itself around.

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April Solano Home Sales Report: Prices Holding Steady And Up County-Wide Over Last Year

Rod Herman — Wed, 12 May 2010 05:07:23 +0000

April’s home sales numbers are in for Solano County and on a county-wide basis, the median price last month was $200,000 — exactly the same as it was in March.

Vacaville, Vallejo and Suisun all reported median prices that were almost the same as the previous month, while Benicia’s median was way up and Fairfield’s was noticeably down.

The huge jump in Benicia’s median price is probably more a correction of last month’s equally huge drop than an indication that prices are suddenly going through the roof in Benicia.

Keep in mind, too, that Benicia’s relatively small sample size means that a few random sales at either end of the price spectrum can easily skew the numbers.

Meanwhile, the number of sales in Solano was down 10% county-wide, but up in Benicia and Fairfield.

At first glance, the big story seems to be Vallejo’s 28% drop in sales last month — from 198 in March to 143 in April. But before jumping to any conclusions, you have to look back a few months. For April’s total is still the second strongest month of 2010 and close to November’s and December’s totals.

Compared to last April, prices in Solano County are up 14%, led by Vallejo (up 28%) and Suisun (+15%). The number of sales, meanwhile, was down 17% county-wide, mainly due, I suspect, to the smaller inventory of homes on the market this April compared to last April.

You can see all of April’s Solano home sale statistics in detail by downloading April’s Solano County Home Sales Report. Archived copies of previous reports are also available by following the links near the bottom of this post.

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Solano Home Buyers Get 2-Month Extension On 3.5% Fannie Mae Closing Cost Credit

Rod Herman — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:12:26 +0000

Non-Investors Who Buy A Fannie Mae Repo Can Still Get The Credit If They Close By June 30

In what amounts to an unexpected gift to buyers of Fannie Mae bank-owned homes in Solano County, the secondary mortgage market giant just announced that its 3.5% closing cost credit incentive program, which was scheduled to end Apr. 30, has been extended to June 30.

So if you buy one of the 96 Fannie Mae-owned homes in Solano County that are either presently for sale or about to come on the market and can close escrow in the next two months, you could be eligible for up to 3.5% in credits at close of escrow.

Of the 96 homes for sale in Solano, 89 are currently on the market and 7 will be coming on the market soon.

Almost half of Fannie’s unsold Solano County inventory is in Vallejo (40 homes), followed by Fairfield (29), Vacaville (15), Suisun City (6), and Benicia (3).

The 3.5% incentive can either be used to offset closing costs, for Whirlpool appliances or a combination of the two. Only owner-occupants are eligible. And since some loan programs limit the maximum amount of closing costs a buyer may receive (FHA, for example, caps it at 3%), the credit is for “up to” 3.5%.

Even though Fannie’s incentive program has been extended, time is definitely of the essence, as escrow must close by June 30 in order for buyers to receive the credit.

And since most escrows take 30-45 days, that doesn’t allow a huge amount of time to find the right home, get the contract accepted and then close escrow.

For more information on homes in Solano County that qualify for Fannie Mae’s 3.5% incentive program, if you’re not already working with another real estate agent, feel free to contact us and we’ll be glad to assist you.

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Solano Pending Home Sales Up, Inventory Down As Tax Credit Draws To A Close

Rod Herman — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 07:27:53 +0000

Whether it’s due to the impending federal tax credit deadline or just the normal spring real estate market surge, home sale activity has definitely picked up in recent weeks in Solano County, which in turn has caused the supply of homes for sale to drop.

This past week marks the first time all year that all five cities in our Solano County market area have seen their inventory of homes decline in the same week.

Vallejo (-20) and Fairfield (-24) both experienced double-digit drops in their housing supply, while the other three cities saw a nominal decrease (Benicia & Fairfield -4 and Suisun -2).

Yet, even that is a significant change from what occurred earlier this year.

For most of the first three months, the inventory increased throughout the county. But in the last few weeks we’ve seen it starting to drop here and there.

For the year, it’s still higher than it was in January in all five cities. Vallejo leads the way with a 46% year-to-date increase. But as recently as April 5, it was up 58% for the year. So as you can see, the inventory has begun to soften.

But the even bigger news in Solano this week is the recent spike in pending sales, which should also foretell a big increase in the number of closed sales for May in June.

Most of the cities in our Solano market area have approached year-to-date highs in pending sales over the past two weeks. This past week, every city except Suisun reported pending sales well above its YTD average.

For example:

Benicia had its fourth highest total of the year last week with 8 pending sales; its YTD average is 5.7.

Vallejo had its second highest total of 2010 last week and its fourth highest total the week before. Last week’s 55 pending sales far eclipsed its 41.4 sales/week average.

Fairfield had its 4th highest total of the year last week and its 3rd highest the week before. There were 41 sales last week, almost 20% above its 33.4/wk average.

Vacaville hit its high water mark last week (35 sales). That’s 40% above its 21.2./week average.

My hunch is that part of the spike in new sales is due to the urgency for many first-time buyers to get into contract by the end of April so they can take advantage of the federal tax credit.

In order to qualify for the credit, buyers must have a ratified contract by Apr. 30 and close escrow by June 30.

We track the weekly home sales statistics for the five cities in our Solano County market area and publish the weekly report periodically, whenever there are notable trends or statistics.

You can download this week’s Solano County Home Sales Report and see week-by-week home sales and housing supply totals for Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun and Vacaville.

To search for homes in our market area, be sure to visit our Home Search page. You can set up customized home searches and receive results automatically in your email inbox. For additional information or to see any of these homes, please contact us.

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Inventory Of Available Homes Still Way Up For The Year Throughout Solano County

Rod Herman — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:15:17 +0000

You’d never believe it if you talked to most buyers, but the inventory of homes for sale throughout Solano County is still up dramatically for the year.

Every city in our Solano market area has at least 20% more homes on the market today than it did at the beginning of January.

The leader is Vallejo, with a whopping 55% increase in 3-1/2 months. There are 374 homes on the market there right now, compared to 242 on Jan. 4.

The other four cities’ year-to-date increases, in descending order: Vacaville +37%, Fairfield +26%, Suisun + 24%, Benicia +20%.

Now, if you’re a buyer who’s been involved in countless multiple-offer negotiations, you’re bound to have a hard time believing that the inventory is any higher today than it was three or four months ago.

And, while the local housing supply is indeed up by a very large percentage, in Vallejo, Benicia and Fairfield, today’s numbers still pale in comparison to where we were last year at this time. Fairfield’s inventory today is 31% lower than a year ago, Vallejo is off 28% and Benicia is down 13%.

However, the opposite is true in Vacaville and Suisun, where the inventory of homes is 28% and 20% higher, respectively, than last year April.

I track the inventory of homes for sale in all five cities in our Solano market area on a weekly basis. I also keep track of the number of pending and closed sales in Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun and Vacaville, too. Our Solano County Real Estate Report has cumulative week-by-week statistics for all five cities.

We publish this weekly report on HomeSection.com on a periodic basis. So be sure to check back regularly to see all the latest housing trends and statistics for Benicia, Vallejo the rest of our Solano County market area.

And, if you’re planning to buy or sell, we’d love to assist you and put our market expertise to work for you. To see the current housing supply for any city in Solano County, be sure to visit our Home Search page. For more information on any of those properties or to discuss selling your home, please contact us.

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Quarterly Stats Paint Uncertain Picture For Solano’s Real Estate Market

Rod Herman — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:00:56 +0000

I just downloaded and analyzed the 1st quarter housing numbers for Solano County and to be honest, it’s hard to tell exactly where we’re headed.

In fact, it’s hard to even figure out exactly where we’ve been. Or what these first quarter numbers really tell us.

Year-Over-Year (1st Qtr 2010 vs. Q1 2009)

If you look at the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period a year ago, you’ll see that in the county’s most affordable cities (Vallejo, Fairfield & Suisun), prices are definitely higher today than they were for Q1 of 2009. But in the county’s most stable markets (Benicia and Vacaville) they dropped.

Countywide, prices were up 8%, from $185,703 last year to $200,000 in 2010. Here’s the rundown for the five cities in our Solano market area:

Since the inventory of homes was so much larger a year ago than it is today, you’d expect fewer sales this year than last. And that’s exactly how it played out (at least everywhere except Benicia, where sales were up 49% over a year ago — but Benicia’s sample size is very small, so don’t read too much into that statistic).

Huge Drop In Distress Sales, But Don’t Get Too Excited

The number of distress sales in Q1 was dramatically lower throughout most of the county (Benicia was again the lone exception with a 26% increase). Everywhere else in our Solano market area, the number of REO’s and short sales dropped by at least 1/3 compared to a year ago.

On the surface sounds pretty significant. But then with fewer overall sales, it just follows that you’d expect to see fewer distress sales, too. So while it’s good to see a reduction in the number of distress sales, don’t get too excited by that statistic.

A lot has definitely changed since the first three months of 2009. Back then, the market was still trying to find a bottom and there weren’t yet any signs of economic recovery. So most of these increases and decreases are fairly predictable.

Q1 Compared To The Last Quarter Of ‘09

What I was really waiting for was to see how the current quarter compared to the last quarter of 2009. For if the market was really starting to move forward, you’d expect to see some encouraging numbers.

Well, here’s how they shaped up:

As you can see, on a countywide basis, prices were down 3% in the first three months of 2010, compared to the last three months of ‘09. Overall, the change wasn’t very remarkable — up a few percentage points in one city, down a couple of ticks in another. Benicia was the only city with a huge disparity, but again, remember my warning about its low sample size.

Both the number of distress sales and the number of total sales dropped by almost identical percentages throughout the county.

So while a 16% drop in distress sales would be very big news if the total number of sales stayed the same, alas, that decrease is just a reflection of the drop in overall sales. Certainly not a game-changer.

So What Does All This Mean?

So like I said at the top of this post, the more you digest these 1st quarter numbers, the more you realize that they don’t really paint a clear picture of where we’re heading. Here’s what they say to me:

1. Inventory remains rather low (though it has increased throughout the county since January).

2. Prices have pretty much stabilized in those cities where prices fell the most (Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun), but still may have a little more to give in higher-priced cities like Benicia & Vacaville.

Whether prices will move higher again in the near future or stay in their current range remains to be seen. I don’t see anything in these numbers that points to a sudden price spike, but I also don’t see anything that suggests a sudden drop.

In other words, as I said earlier, we seem to be in a period of uncertainty right now.

If you’d like to see a complete breakdown of the first quarter’s statistics, be sure to download our full 1st Quarter 2010 Solano Home Sale Report. You can see past reports on our Solano Home Sales Report Archives page.

Questions about our quarterly report or want information about buying or selling a home in Solano County or Central/East Contra Costa? Please contact us.

And, if you’d like to search for single family homes, condominiums or townhomes in Solano County, be sure to visit our Home Search page. You can even set up a customized personal search and receive MLS listings directly in your email inbox whenever new listings or price changes occur in our MLS.

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March Home Sales Activity Soars Throughout Solano County

Rod Herman — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:50:50 +0000

Meanwhile, Prices Drop In Benicia & Vallejo But Climb In The North County

After a February in which home sales activity in Solano County dropped noticeably, it roared back with a gusto in March, perhaps in part due to the upcoming end of the federal tax credit program.

Solano Up 44% Over Last Month

All five cities in our Solano market area showed robust gains in the number of closed sales last month. Countywide, the number of home sales in Solano was up 44% over February.

Vallejo led the way with an incredible 71% increase, followed by Benicia (61%), Vacaville (56%), Suisun (34%) and Fairfield (9%).

Prices Up 5% Countywide, But…

Prices, though, were another story. Up north, in Fairfield, Vacaville and Suisun, prices were up. In Vallejo and Benicia they were down. County-wide, the median price climbed from $190,000 to $200,000 — a very healthy 5% increase.

Fairfield had a huge one-month gain, as its median jumped 18% — from $190,000 in February to $225,000 in March. Vacaville was up 9%, from $215,000 to $234,325. And Suisun’s median of $200,000 was 2% higher than a month ago.

Vallejo, meanwhile, was down a mere 1% at $148,500 (from $150,000 in Feb.). The big drop, though, was in Benicia, where the median plummeted from $311,375 to $251,000 — a 19% decline.

Before You Get Too Concerned About Benicia

Now, before you jump to any conclusions about Benicia, remember that 29 closed sales is a very small sample size, especially when you consider that there were 529 home sales countywide in March.

And, as I’ve cautioned many times before, there’s a real danger in reading too much into a single month’s median price figures, since a few extra sales at one end of the price spectrum can often skew the median, particularly in smaller cities like Benicia or Suisun, where the sample size is quite low.

Quarterly figures are often much more relevant, for they allow you to smooth out the highs and lows over a 3-month period. I’ll be publishing the 1st Quarter 2010 numbers in the next day or two.

In terms of comparison, Benicia’s $251,000 median price for March is incredibly 40% lower than it was as recently as January, when the city reported its highest total in over a year, at $420,000. So I suspect the quarterly numbers for Benicia will paint a somewhat different story than March alone.

Compared To March 2009

Compared to a year ago, the number of sales is down 14% countywide, which is due in large part to there being far fewer homes on the market today than there were a year ago, particularly in the most affordable cities in the county.

At the end of March, for example, Vallejo reported 374 active listings. A year earlier, there were 629. Fairfield had 301 this March and 461 at the end of Mar. ‘09. So with fewer homes to choose from, you’d expect fewer sales.

Benicia was the only city in Solano County which bucked the year-to-year decrease. It reported 29 closed home sales in Mar. ‘10 compared to 20 in Mar. ‘09 — a 45% increase. But again, we’re talking small sample-size.

Download The Complete March Report

Our monthly Solano County Housing Report features three pages of statistics — probably enough data to satisfy the even the most ardent number hound.

You’ll find statistics for the county and all five cities in our market area for March 2010 plus cumulative totals for the past 12 months. There’s also a year-to-year comparison so you can see how each city in the county fared compared to Mar. ‘09

Be sure to look for our 1st Quarter Solano County 2010 Home Sales Report as well as our Benicia & Vallejo Home Sales Reports. Both will be published in the next few days. A complete archive of previous reports is available by clicking on the links below.

If you have additional questions about this month’s report or would like information about buying or selling a home in Solano County’s complex housing market, please contact us.

If you’d like to search for single family homes, condominiums or townhomes in Benicia, Vallejo or the rest of Solano County, be sure to visit our Home Search page. You can even set up a customized personal search and receive MLS listings directly in your email inbox whenever new listings or price changes occur in our MLS.

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So Far This Year, Housing Supply Is WAY UP In Vallejo, Fairfield & Vacaville

Rod Herman — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:10:07 +0000

Last year, I started tracking the housing inventory and sales activity in Solano County on a weekly basis and if you followed this blog in 2009, you know that for the year, the inventory was way down for every city in the county.

This year, though, has been a completely different story so far — especially in Vallejo, Fairfield and Vacaville, where the supply of available homes (active listings on the MLS) has soared by up to 55% from where it was at the beginning of the year.

Look at the year-to-date percentage increases for each city in our Solano County market area:

Vallejo – Up 55%
Vacaville – Up 31%
Fairfield/Green Valley – Up 26%
Benicia – Up 9%
Suisun City – Up 5%

A Huge Jump, But Remember From Whence We Came

That’s a pretty huge increase in just three short months. To put things in perspective, though, you have to remember where we were in January, after a year in which the housing inventory dropped 75% in Suisun, 72% in Vallejo and 67% in Fairfield.

So even though every city in the county’s numbers rose during the first quarter of 2010, the number of available homes still remains quite a bit lower than last year at this time, as the chart below illustrates.

Accordingly, even though the supply of active listings is up noticeably since the beginning of the year, we still have quite a way to go before we approach last year’s supply.

So while the increase in available homes to choose from should be welcome news to eager home buyers — particularly those wanting to get into contract by the end of April to take advantage of the soon-to-expire federal tax credit — the reality is that most local home buyers in Solano County are still finding themselves in multiple offer situations due to the high demand.

We Still Track These Numbers Every Week

I continue to track these numbers every week. Though, this year I only publish them on a periodic basis — and usually when I notice a trend worth pointing out.

In 2009, I published the home inventory and home sale statistics on a weekly basis, but by year’s end I realized that there often wasn’t enough of a noticeable change on a week-to-week basis to warrant publishing them every week.

Nevertheless, if you’re ever interested in seeing the current week’s report in between the dates that I publish them on this blog, feel free to contact me for a current update. Or, if there’s a groundswell of interest in seeing these numbers every week, then I’ll start publishing them on a weekly basis again.

You can download this week’s Solano County Housing Report, which shows complete week-by-week active listings totals for each of the five cities in our market area, plus weekly pending and closed sales statistics for each city, too.

Please contact us for more information or details on these statistics. To see every home that’s presently available on our MLS in any city in Solano County, visit our Home Search page.

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Ugly February Home Sale Numbers For Solano County: Are We Taking A Step Back?

Rod Herman — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:38:57 +0000

With the exception of Suisun City, February was a pretty ugly month for home sales and prices in the other four cities in our Solano County market area, according to the monthly statistics I just downloaded.

County-wide, the median sales price for February was $190,000 — a 7% drop from January’s $205,000. It hasn’t been that low since last June.

Contributing to that drop-off was Benicia (-26% from January), Fairfield (-19%), Vacaville (-9%) and Vallejo (-4%).

Along with prices, the number of closed sales was also down throughout most of the county: Benicia -25%, Vallejo -17%, and Vacaville -6%. Fairfield, however, posted a 6% increase.

But the only city which really bucked the downward trend in February was Suisun, where the median price rose 6% and the number of closed sales was up a whopping 33%.

The complete monthly statistics are in my February 2010 Monthly Home Sale Report for Solano County. Here are a few city-by-city highlights (or maybe “lowlights” is a better choice) from that report:

Benicia — The median sales price for February was $311,375, which is the lowest it’s been since last February. Its 18 closed sales were the fewest since last April.

Fairfield — February’s median price was $190,000, the lowest its been since September. Although there were 7 more closed sales than in January, it’s 115 closings in February is still the second lowest total over the past 112 months.

Suisun City — Suisun’s $196,500 median price is the second highest figure over the past 12 months. However, before you get too giddy over Suisun’s 33% jump in closed sales last month, consider that its 32 sales in February was the second lowest total over the past year. February’s increase only looks remarkable because January’s total was down so much (more than 50% from the previous month).

Vacaville — February’s median of $215,000 was the lowest its been since I started tracking these numbers in late 2008. The median price is down 17% from last February’s $258,000. Its 66 sales total was also the lowest over the past year.

Vallejo — The median ($150,000) was last this low in October. However, Vallejo’s median is still quite a bit higher than it was last spring, when it hovered between $125,000-$140,000. A year ago it was $135,000. The sales total of 116 is Vallejo’s low water mark over the past 12 months.

So all of this begs the question: Are we taking a step back?

Well, before you read too much into all of these numbers, remember that a one-month sample size is fairly small — particularly for cities like Benicia and Suisun, which have a relatively small inventory of homes for sale.

So a few random sales at one end of the spectrum can often artificially skew the numbers and provide a false illusion of what’s really happening in the market.

Right now, we’re still seeing multiple offers on most homes below $300,000. And though the inventory has bumped up a bit since the beginning of the year, it hasn’t increased enough to slow the demand.

Rather, with the home buyer tax credit set to expire at the end of next month, if anything, there seems to be even more urgency among those eligible for the credit to get into contract right away.

Be sure to download the full February Home Sale Report For Solano County, which includes monthly totals for February and comparisons with the past 12 months and Feb. ‘09.

Please contact us for additional information or visit our Home Search page to find homes currently on the market in any of the cities in our Solano and Central Contra Costa market area.

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Any Light At The End Of The End Of Solano’s Foreclosure Tunnel?

Rod Herman — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:38:09 +0000

Everyone agrees that the real key to restoring the economy and home values lies in working through that huge backlog of distressed properties.

For, the sooner we get to a point where the lion’s share of active listings are being sold by regular sellers with equity rather than banks or upside-down borrowers, the sooner this ugly market will be behind us.

About six months ago, I downloaded the foreclosure statistics for all five cities in our Solano County market area and back then almost 60% of what had already been foreclosed upon had not yet come on the market. Most banks were keeping what has become known as their “shadow inventory” off the market.

Since that time, the banks have started to release more inventory, but rather than a flood, the release of new bank-owned listings has been more of a trickle. So a few days ago, I decided to download the raw foreclosure data and see if anything had changed.

In a nutshell, as the numbers above and below illustrate, it looks like we still have quite a way to go before the local housing market in Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun and Vacaville finally returns to normal.

Here are a few statistics that will give you a sense of what lies ahead:

As of Feb. 15, there were 2,055 already-foreclosed homes in those five Solano cities. Yet, a startling 69% of those (1,425) have yet to come on the market. So that shadow inventory has actually grown by 11% since my August report.

2,186 more homes are now in the final stages of foreclosure and could turn into new REOs within a matter of days or weeks.

And another 2,422 homes have had a notice of default recorded against them, which means that they’re between 1-4 months of being foreclosed upon, too.

Add in the 240 REOs that were actually on the market as of Feb. 15 and that means there are now almost 6,300 homes in Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun and Vacaville that are either unsold foreclosures or heading that way.

To put that number in perspective, consider how long it would take to work through 6,300 listings, based on the average weekly sales activity for those five cities.

I track those numbers in my Solano Weekly Housing Report and based on this year’s average weekly pending sales figures, it would take anywhere from 13.5 months to 16.6 months just to exhaust what’s presently on the market or in the foreclosure pipeline in those five Solano cities right now.

And that doesn’t include all those people who are behind on their payments but haven’t yet had a notice of default recorded. Nor those who are upside-down on their mortgage and might soon find themselves forced to sell due to one of life’s many unavoidable circumstances.

It also doesn’t include those “regular” traditional sellers who aren’t selling out of necessity (remember them?).

If you’re looking for some positive news or perhaps a ray of light, as the above chart shows, the number of properties where a notice of default (NOD) had been recorded actually went down since August. Meanwhile, the number of trustee’s sales went up.

Since the foreclosure process starts when an NOD is recorded and finishes when a trustee’s sale is completed, it’s always far better to see fewer homes at the beginning of the process than at the end, which is what the above numbers show.

So maybe those numbers are the first signs that we’re indeed starting to work our way through the foreclosure doldrums. But then again, a few months from now we might find that things have reversed themselves again.

In any event, as these numbers clearly illustrate, though the market itself seems to have stabilized, we’re by no means out of the woods just yet.

From here, it looks like we still have quite a ways to go before that pipeline really starts to dry up.

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