Surprise! Huge drop in DFW foreclosures

NORTH TEXAS – Home foreclosures are down more than 50 percent from a year ago, with fewer than 2,000 DFW homes being threatened with forced sale by lenders.

There have been 44 percent fewer foreclosure filings so far this year than during the same period 2012, according to Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service.

It is the lowest one-month total for local foreclosure filings in almost a decade.

The size of the drop in foreclosure postings in the area has caught market analysts and real estate agents by surprise.

“There are a lot fewer short sales and distressed home sales, too,” said George Roddy Jr. of Foreclosure Listing Service. “A lot of the owners who have been upside down in houses are now being able to sell because the market values have risen.

For March’s foreclosure auctions, the number of homes facing a forced sale in Dallas County is down 63 percent from a year ago, while Collin County’s filings are 53 percent lower.

The houses threatened with foreclosure sale next month in the DFW area had an average original mortgage value of $147,915.