Foreclosure filings in Colorado inched up in February. But state housing officials aren’t sounding the alarm over the uptick just yet.
Foreclosure activity had slowed down last fall, largely because of the robo-signing controversy and resulting moratorium. But it was anticipated that last month’s multi-billion dollar settlement between states and several of the country's biggest mortgage lenders would impact the numbers.
“This doesn’t mean the larger overall trend is stopping,” says Ryan McMaken, an economist with the state Division of Housing. “And that larger overall trend is down from the highs of 2009 and 2010. That looks like that’s going to continue, but it looks like we might be facing several months – maybe 6 to 9 months – of short-term increase in foreclosures as the lenders deal with inventory that’s been building up over the last 18 months or so.”
While new foreclosure filings rose 3.5% last month for most Front Range counties – Boulder and Broomfield counties reported significant decreases. Mesa County saw the largest increase in new filings, at 32%.
