As 2012 wound down, so too did the pace of foreclosure activity. Foreclosures fell 11 percent in Shelby County in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the same three-month period in 2011, according to real estate information company Chandler Reports,www.chandlerreports.com.
But the data isn’t completely an apples to apples comparison.
Depending on how far back a person looks, widespread foreclosure moratoriums of varying lengths began to be implemented by banks a year or two ago.
Those have begun to end, but the result is still that they make the comparisons look clearer than they are.
Overall, total foreclosures in the just-ended quarter were 932, down from 1,051 foreclosures in Q4 2011.
Likewise, the number of foreclosure notices also showed a decline. Banks and lenders sent 1,888 notices during the just-ended quarter, down from 2,074 in Q4 2011.
Foreclosure notices are a first step in the process. They’re sent to borrowers in default. They don’t necessarily mean a home will be sold at a foreclosure auction, because the borrower ideally would be able to work out an alternative arrangement when possible.
Chandler Reports is a division of The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc.