The Philadelphia Inquirer recently posted an article stating that the Philadelphia area foreclosure rate is down 30%!  That’s great!  To read the article see below…

Philadelphia area’s foreclosure rate drops 30%

By Al Heavens

Inquirer Real Estate Columnist

The Philadelphia region’s first-quarter foreclosure rate fell almost 30 percent from the same period a year earlier, bucking a national trend that saw filings rise to one in every 194 U.S. households.The rate puts Philadelphia 82d on a list of 100 metropolitan areas compiled by RealtyTrac Inc., the Irvine, Calif., firm that tracks foreclosures nationwide.

Included in the top 10 metro areas for foreclosure filings were six cities in California, as well as Las Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Stockton, Calif., in the central part of the state, led the list with 7,560 filings, or one household in 30, an increase of almost 292 percent from January-to-March 2007.

The more-populous eight-county Philadelphia region had 3,064 filings, or one household in 527, a decline of 29.64 percent, RealtyTrac’s data show.

Nationally, there were 649,917 filings in the first quarter, an increase of 112 percent over January-to-March 2007, RealtyTrac reported.

James Saccacio, the company’s chief executive officer, said that “unusual, nonmarket factors” might be the reason for the drop in this region, citing the city’s April moratorium on foreclosure sales and a program, approved in March, to delay foreclosure proceedings on owner-occupied properties until the owners have met face-to-face with lenders to attempt a loan-workout plan.

In the city, fewer properties were sold for foreclosure in 2007 than in 2003, said Sheriff John Green, who credited efforts by his department and nonprofit counseling agencies to get homeowners to begin talking with lenders before the process started.

In 2003, 7,833 properties in Philadelphia were scheduled for foreclosure sale, and 2,694 sold, Green said; in 2007, 5,670 were scheduled, and 2,041 sold.

Green said he was cautiously optimistic these efforts would keep the problem under control, even as foreclosure experts anticipated an increase in filings as adjustable-rate subprime loans reset in the coming year.

Moody’s Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi observed, “Foreclosure moratoriums are delaying, and not forestalling, foreclosures.”

The Philadelphia area’s foreclosure rate will remain well below the national average, Zandi said, because “the region didn’t get caught up as much in the investor and subprime-lending frenzy during the housing boom.”

The city’s foreclosure-sale moratorium does not affect the suburbs. But even as filings rise slowly in the seven counties outside Philadelphia, the number of properties that reach actual foreclosure sale remains fairly low.

For example, Montgomery County listed 267 properties for sheriff’s sale in March. Only 33 were sold. Action on the rest was stayed or postponed.

Thirty-seven properties were scheduled for sale in Gloucester County in March, but in 20 cases, the sale either was canceled or the homeowner filed for bankruptcy to avert it, the records show.

Across Pennsylvania, 633 foreclosure sales were completed in January and February combined, up 16 percent from a year ago, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. In New Jersey, 381 sales in those two months combined represented a 97 percent increase year over year, due largely to higher numbers in the northern part of the state.

Foreclosures in this region continue to fall heaviest on low- and middle-income borrowers. An examination of properties listed for sheriff’s sale in each of the eight counties since January showed that the vast majority involved mortgages ranging from $75,000 to $350,000.

In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, foreclosures must be completed within 300 days of the lender’s filing, which effectively buys homeowners some time. By contrast, in California, the period is 135 days; in Texas, 90; and in Virginia, which has the shortest limit, 60 days.

In addition, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have programs to assist those facing foreclosure.

Pennsylvania’s Housing Finance Agency administers the Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, which lends money to help bring delinquent payments current, using the mortgage on the property as security.

Applications for the loan, obtained through state-approved counseling agencies, postpone further foreclosure action for 60 days, pending agency review.

In November, the agency launched REfinance to An Affordable Loan (REAL), which provides 100 percent fixed-rate loans to troubled borrowers. The Homeowners’ Equity Recovery Opportunity Loan (HERO) lets the agency buy a homeowner’s loan from the lender and sets up an affordable repayment agreement.

New Jersey’s Department of Community Affairs has launched a public-private alliance called NJ HOPE.

Spokesman Chris Donnelly said the program was “committed to preserving homeownership by raising consumer awareness of available mortgage products, funding and refinancing, increasing access to credit and loan counseling, and providing temporary assistance to consumers facing foreclosure.”