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Fairfax foreclosures jump 392 percent in one year
Homeowners continue to fight the foreclosure chopping block in Fairfax County.
The number of foreclosed home listings totaled 197 in August, an increase of 4.6 percent from July. The numbers also equated to an astounding 392 percent increase since September 2007. Currently, 604 active listings are earmarked as foreclosures in the county, according to data in a report by Fairfax-based Fulton Research and Consulting.
The skyrocketing numbers could be attributed to reckless and irresponsible lending, said Jesse Van Tol of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which held a foreclosure prevention event at the Fairfax County Government Center last week.
Mortgage lenders gave home buyers “bad advice about the kind of product appropriate for them or the price they could afford," he said.
Home sales in the county dipped just 2.7 percent to 1,355 in August. The average sale price, however, took quite a hit-- plunging 19 percent to $456,727 from $563,824 in August 2007, according to a report released by Maryland-based Metropolitan Regional Information Systems.
Although August home sales dropped, the 12-month trend line for overall sales continues to shoot up, with eight of the last 12 months showing increases in month-to-month sales, said Rosemary deButts, senior consultant at Fulton.
Lorton recorded a sales increase of 82 percent in August compared to July, the highest jump in the county. Annandale more than doubled its total number of sales in August over the previous year. On the flip side, Chantilly and Oakton had the steepest decline in sales, each dropping 31 percent in August from July, Fulton reported.
As far as median sales prices are concerned, the 12 month trend is steeply down, coming in at $375,000 – a drop of 22 percent from $478,750 last year, according to MRIS.
Lorton, which clocked the highest percentage increase in sales, also had the largest drop in median sales price compared to last year, falling 41 percent to $327,500, according to Fulton. Only Reston posted a gain in median sales price, by 3.5 percent, compared to last year.
“You shouldn't allow lenders to get to a point where they damage the whole financial system,” Van Tol said.
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