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E-mail StoryForeclosures, defaults reach new highs
| Thursday, Jan 3 2008 11:51 AM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jan 3 2008 11:51 AM
Record foreclosures and defaults hit Kern in 2007, year-end figures from the county show, while activity for property sales and loans declined from recent years.
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- DEFAULTS: Defaults reached record highs in 2007, the latest report from the county Recorder’s Office shows.
- FORECLOSURES: A record number of properties foreclosed in Kern during 2007, county statistics show. The orange line, which represents 2007, floats high above data from previous years.
- LOANS ORIGINATED: Loan activity also ranked lower in 2007 than in previous years.
- LOANS PAID OFF: Fewer mortgages were paid off last year than in previous years, meanwhile.
- DEEDS: Properties sold and transferred to new owners also declined last year from hot markets in earlier years.
DEFAULTS
Lenders sent 8,651 default notices to Kern property owners last year, according to the latest report from the county Recorder’s Office.
That’s by far the highest annual number since 1995, when the county started tracking filings, and nearly double the next closest year — 1997 — when 4,367 defaults were recorded.
Last year’s total is also more than twice that for 2006, when 3,275 defaults were recorded, and more than triple 2005’s tally of 2,058.
The pace of defaults increased during the year with December netting the most filings: 1,067, a monthly record. In January, by comparison, 489 default notices were recorded.
FORECLOSURES
Foreclosed properties also hit annual and monthly highs.
A total 3,007 properties foreclosed last year compared to 408 in 2006.
The next closest year was 1998’s total of 2,683.
December’s count of 421 foreclosed properties set a new monthly record and continued a quickening pace since the beginning of the year, when 103 foreclosures were recorded.
LOANS, DEEDS
Overall real estate activity slowed in 2007, the report shows.
Loan filings fell to 53,047 compared to more than 84,000 in 2006 and nearly 98,000 in 2005.
Property sales and transfers dropped to 43,154 filings from nearly 63,000 in 2006 and more than 75,000 in 2005, the report shows.