NC Foreclosure picture improving
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RALEIGH – Foreclosures in North Carolina are on pace to be down from last year's record-breaking total. The numbers come from the North Carolina Justice Center, which released county-by-county data Tuesday on the amount of foreclosures in the state.
Raleigh Real Estate Agent Harrison Tulloss sees foreclosures daily.
"They are still out there," he said. "We see probably about 15 percent of our sales have been in the foreclosures, and in various price ranges."
Last year North Carolina had nearly 68,000 foreclosures, a record. In the first three months of 2011, there's been about 15,700 foreclosures. Officials say the state is on pace to see about 63,000 this year.
"Fortunately, North Carolina foreclosures are on a decline, which puts us ahead of the national curve,” said Jeff Shaw with the N.C. Justice Center. “Observers think foreclosures are going peak in 2011, but in North Carolina, we may have seen the worst in 2010."
Shaw says that's thanks to an improving economy and aggressive foreclosure prevention programs. But, some regions are faring better than others. Shaw says the coast and the mountains were hit hard with foreclosures, as many lost their vacation homes. Shaw also says Mecklenburg County is consistently high in foreclosures.
"The real estate bubble hit Charlotte more than it did other parts of North Carolina," Shaw said. "Also, with the collapse of the banking industry, a lot of people that had good paying jobs suddenly don't."
Shaw says there may be a spike in foreclosures later this year if banks resolve the "robo-signing" scandal, which had slowed foreclosures. In that, it was revealed bankers may have signed off on foreclosure documents without proper review.