For the first time in four years, the number of foreclosures has fallen in the tri-county South Florida region, according to the latest report by CondoVultures.
The Bal Harbour-based consulting firm reports that lenders repossessed 2% fewer homes during the first 90 days of 2011 than they did during the same period a year earlier. The decline isn't much to hang your hat on, says Peter Zalewski, a principal in the firm. But it is noteworthy, nonetheless.
While there is "no question" that the market in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties has improved, Zalewski cautioned about becoming too optimistic – or concluding that the distress in the South Florida real estate markets is a thing of the past.
"The unknown is, what will happen when the ‘foreclosure freeze' is finally resolved, and lenders once again have confidence in their administrative processes to pursue foreclosures against borrowers in default," he said.
During the first quarter, banks and other creditors took title to less than 9,000 properties in the area, according to the report, which is based on public records. A year earlier, they took back 9,200 properties.
During the same period in 2007, 2008 and 2009, they repossessed 1,350, 4,800 and 7,300 properties, respectively.
