REAL ESTATE NICHES

A Snapshot of the Rising Foreclosure Problem–Western Oregon.

Homes headed to foreclosure continued to rise throughout the state of Oregon during the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first month 2009 with a total of 2,420 notices of default filed in 13 western Oregon counties between Oct. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2008, a 117 percent increase from the previous quarter. A notice of default is the official beginning of the foreclosure process.

These numbers come as no surprise to those of us who have been studying the state’s housing market. It’s likely that we will continue to see increasing numbers of home foreclosures in the state of Oregon in the months ahead as the number of Notices of Default is a leading indicator of the foreclosure real estate market.

The foreclosure statistics in these counties reveal some interesting trends in the Oregon housing market, including the following: