Q.C. foreclosure rate mostly unchanged
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Amanda Keim, Tribune
December 7, 2009 – 3:53PM , updated: December 8, 2009 – 4:18PM
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Queen Creek’s foreclosure rate held steady between August and November, according to the most recent foreclosure analysis completed by town staff.
Queen Creek had a 2.7 percent foreclosure rate on Nov. 16, with 194 homes listed as foreclosures or short-sales, according to an analysis of market conditions completed by Dave Williams, town planner. The last analysis Williams completed on Aug. 18 had a 2.6 percent foreclosure rate.
The analysis takes a snapshot of the housing market on a single day, looking at how many homes are in foreclosure or listed for short-sale.
The town has established a baseline of about 120 new foreclosures per month, Williams said. But the foreclosure rate hasn’t significantly risen because homes are selling, which Williams sees as a positive sign.
“We’re still at our baseline at about 120, but inside that, stuff is moving,” Williams said. “I can’t complain too much about that. That’s a good thing. People are moving into Queen Creek.”
New home permits are exceeding expectations, so far. Builders were issued 111 permits between July 1 and the end of November, said Wayne Balmer, planning manager. Of those, 59 were issued in July and 17 permits were issued in November.
Queen Creek staff had projected 100 new home permits would be issued for the entire fiscal year.
To compare, the town issued 268 permits in the 2007-08 fiscal year. There were 1,200 permits issued during the height of the housing boom in 2005-06.
Within the listed foreclosures, 35 percent were on the market less than two months, 26 percent had been on the market two to four months and 39 percent have been in foreclosure for more than four months, according to the report.
Some individual subdivisions showed big improvements from the previous report. Queenland Manor and Langley Gateway Estate 2 tied for the biggest positive change with six fewer foreclosures each. Queenland Manor has a 2.3 percent foreclosure rate and Langley Gateway Estates is at 0.8 percent.
Remington Heights had the biggest increase in foreclosures, with 10 more since the last analysis for a 4 percent foreclosure rate.
Nauvoo Station had the second-largest increase with five more foreclosures for an 17.9 percent foreclosure rate. However, Williams said that was due to a developer that went into bankruptcy and now has the homes on the market.
