Colorado Foreclosure Data Mixed

Location, location, location.

Foreclosures are way down in Denver and to a lesser extent, in two adjacent counties:

Adams, Arapahoe, and Denver counties all saw declines in total numbers of completed foreclosures. Denver's completed foreclosure totals fell 30 percent. Adams County's completed foreclosures fell 19 percent, and Arapahoe County saw a 16 percent decrease.

But, the second quarter of 2009 were record high statewide, and the first half of 2009 is only marginally improved from 2008:

The Colorado Division of Housing reported Thursday that 12,135 homes entered the initial proceedings of bank repossession or auction in the April-June period. Nearly 5,000 foreclosures were completed, meaning the homes were returned to the bank or sold at auction.

The foreclosure rise was sharpest in Mesa County. There, second-quarter foreclosure filings rose 144 percent from the same period in 2008, from 108 to 264, while completed foreclosures more than tripled, from 18 to 58.

State housing officials attributed the rise to the troubles of the energy industry, a major Mesa County employer. . . .

The next highest increase in foreclosure filings came in Broomfield County, just north of Denver, where filings rose 45 percent from the same period last year, from 73 to 106. . . .

Statewide, there was about one completed foreclosure per 202 households during the first half of 2009. During the first half of last year, there was one completed foreclosure for every 192 households. . . .

During 2008, there were 39,333 total foreclosure filings and 21,301 total completed foreclosures.

A mix of policy responses and foreclosure moratoriums make it hard to tell if the respite from foreclosures in metropolitian Denver is temporary or permanent, but the general sentiment is that Colorado had its housing crisis early and will be past it early as well.