For several years, Michigan’s home foreclosure rate has been declining.
But Realty Trac reports home foreclosure filings jumped nearly 17% during the first six months of 2015. Roughly half of those foreclosures involve homes in metro Detroit.
Daren Blomquist is with Realty Trac. He cautions the increase is not as bad as people may think.
Blomquist compares the first six months of 2015 with the same period in 2006. He says the actual number of homes in the foreclosure process in 2015 is lower than in 2006.
“There’s actually some room in this market for higher foreclosure rates. As funny as that may sound,” says Blomquist.
Blomquist says Michigan could continue to see the number of foreclosure filings rise at the same rate for another year before it may start affecting the post-recession recovery of Michigan’s real estate market.
During the recession, Michigan rose to the top of the list of state’s struggling with home foreclosures. Banks flooded the market with cheaply priced foreclosed homes. All those foreclosed homes depressed home prices.
But as the flood of foreclosed homes has ebbed, Michigan home sale prices have improved.
Blomquist does not expect the rising number of home foreclosures to cause a problem.
“We’re not still dealing with a big backlog of delayed foreclosures in Michigan.” Says Blomquist, “We’re dealing now with the normal, “run of the mill” foreclosure activity that would happen in any market.”
