LI foreclosure filings up 44% in March
New York State officials said Suffolk is the No. 1 one county in the state in terms of the number of foreclosures, followed by Queens and Nassau. Credit: iStock
Foreclosure filings on Long Island spiked by 44 percent in March from the month before, a possible sign that the more than yearlong slowdown in foreclosures may be ending.
The number of March foreclosure filings -- default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- remained lower than in the previous March, RealtyTrac, a national data provider, reported.
But the recent month-to-month uptick could signal an end to the foreclosure delays caused by banks' documentation troubles, although it is too soon to know for sure, said Long Island Association economist Pearl Kamer.
In February, five major banks reached a $25-billion settlement with state authorities and the federal government over the "robo-signing" foreclosure documentation scandal. The settlement is expected to lead to a flood of new filings.
There will be contrasting short-term and long-term effects from more foreclosures. "It's a tragedy, people are being cast out of their homes, and we don't have much alternative rental housing for them," Kamer said. And an increase in foreclosures will likely cause a temporary drop in housing prices as distressed homes go up for sale.
However, she said, those lower-priced homes must work their way through the market before home prices can ultimately recover.
There were 328 foreclosure filings in Nassau County last month, 47 percent more than in February but nearly 3 percent fewer than in March 2011, RealtyTrac said.
In Suffolk County there were 303 foreclosure filings in March, 41 percent more than the previous month but nearly 14 percent fewer than in March 2011.
Foreclosure filings have increased in 18 of the 26 states where foreclosures must be approved by a court, including in New York, according to RealtyTrac's first-quarter report. By contrast, foreclosures have fallen in the states that do not require court approval. The longer delays in the states requiring court approval have led to larger backlogs in those states, RealtyTrac said.
Foreclosures in New York took longer in the first quarter than in any other state -- 1,056 days on average, RealtyTrac said, compared to 370 days nationwide.
