Orlando Real Estate

Mary Shanklin with the Orlando Sentinel did a great job of explaining how foreclosure filings are measured in this article today. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-bizforeclosures-florida-071609071609jul16,0,2972151.story

The good news is that foreclosure filings were down 24% in June compared to May. The bad news is that there were still nearly 6,700 filings last month. I am writing this post for a couple of reasons: obviously, it is Orlando real estate news; it is good news that the filings are down; the author took the time to define what a filing is. I don't want to take away from the drop in the filings, because that is definitely an indicator of the overall health of the real estate market and economic conditions. The key point that I find especially important here is that the author took a few lines to explain what a filing is.

I hear from people all the time making comments that 1 in every 132 homes has been foreclosed on in Orlando or that 6,667 were foreclosed on last month. Many times when I read articles about foreclosure rates the authors don't explain that the Realtytrac reports are foreclosure filings not foreclosures. If someone has a home with three mortgages and they miss a months payments, they receive three notices accounting for three foreclosure filings. To use the author's example if a home owner receives a default notice one week and an auction notice the next that is two filings. Unfortunately, too many times these articles do not explain these measures leading to a more "sensational" article instead of responsible journalism.

Thank you Mary Shanklin at the Orlando Sentinel.

Orlando Real Estate, David Welch Real Estate Optimist