Less Home Foreclosures on North Shore

Written by: By Kyle Magin, Bonanza Staff Writer
This article first appeared in the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza on Sunday, September 21, 2008

Incline Village and Crystal Bay have seen five foreclosures in 2008 — five more than in the five previous years combined.Those five are part of an increase in total foreclosures in Washoe County.Forclosures from one in 230 households in July of this year to one in 158 in August, according to RealtyTrac, a national foreclosure tracker. The national average for foreclosures is one in 416 households, according to the report, while the Nevada average is one in 91 households.Incline/Crystal Bay hasn’t seen a foreclosure since June, though, which was the fifth straight in a series of one foreclosure months, according to the Washoe County Assessor’s Office.There were no reported foreclosures in Incline/Crystal Bay from 2003 to 2007, a number Dan Ross, an official with the Assessor’s Office, said he is confident is accurate.Bill Ferrall, director of business relations for the Tahoe Lending Group, said the numbers of foreclosures didn’t surprise him because is Incline is unique in the Real Estate and lending markets.“Incline has a lot of high-net worth buyers who don’t have the liquidity issues you may find in Reno,” Ferrall said. “They just aren’t as prevalent up here.”Ferrall said hardships generally lead to foreclosures, such as medical issues or divorces. In the current market, though, Ferrall said the devaluation of homes is the largest factor contributing to foreclosures. He said paying a mortgage becomes a moot point for people who’s homes are losing money.“People have no incentive to pay any more when they are upside down on their mortgages,” Ferrall said.Ron Stichter, President-elect of the Incline Village Board of Realtors, said the people who were foreclosed on in Incline may have refinanced their homes with an adjustable rate mortgage, and when that rate adjusted higher they could no longer afford their loan.“Quite frankly, they couldn’t afford it,” Stichter said. “They just got themselves into trouble when they refinanced on the equity of their homes, and they may have had a good program, but they went in with the idea that they’d be able to afford their mortgage.”While Incline is still behind the rest of Washoe County in terms of foreclosures, Ferrall cautioned a few more could be on the way this year.While he couldn’t provide an estimate, Ferrall said based on the number of notice of defaults in Incline, which he said were about 20, more foreclosures may be imminent. He said the normal number of notices of defaults is generally 10. Homeowners generally work out a ‘cure’ with their bank or lender once a notice of default is issued, and if they don’t, their home goes into foreclosure.“The question is how many of those NODs don’t cure, and the chance is good that since we have double the normal number of NODs some of them won’t cure, which you can assume equates to more foreclosures.” Ferrall said.

Thinking about Buying or Selling?
Call Alvin's Team Today! 877-651-7810