Columbia SC Foreclosure Crisis Seemingly Ending

We still have a ways to go, but it would appear that the Columbia SC foreclosure crisis, as well as the foreclosure crisis nationwide, is finally coming to an end.

Latest figures from RealtyTrac show that foreclosure filings have continued on their downward trend, falling to the lowest level at the end of January since April 2007.

Foreclosure filings – which encompass bank repossessions, default notices and scheduled auctions – fell by 28% last January compared to one year earlier, according to reports from CNN Money.

Daren Blomquist, spokesperson for RealtyTrac, says there is every reason to be optimistic:

“We’re now well past the peak of the foreclosure crisis. It’s likely that by this time next year, we’ll start to see 2005-type, pre-crisis numbers again.”

Is the Columbia SC Foreclosure Crisis Really Over?

Foreclosure levels remain twice as high as they were in 2005, but then again, the rate at which they are slowing down suggests we may now be well past the peak of the Columbia SC foreclosure crisis. Already, bank repossessions have fallen to half of the record-breaking 102,134 nationwide set in September 2010, and things are only going to get better from here on in as banks race through their backlog of underwater homes.

One of the big reasons for the drop in foreclosures was due to new legislation in California, which gives borrowers more protection against losing their homes when they default on their repayments. As a result, California saw a 62% drop in foreclosure numbers in January, meaning that the state no longer leads the country in number of foreclosure filings, for the first time since 2007.

The Columbia SC foreclosure crisis isn’t over by any means, but things are definitely a lot better than they were just a couple of years ago.

For more on Columbia SC mortgage information, see our Columbia SC Mortgage Info category of articles under the Columbia SC Real Estate Categories to your right.