Friday, January 9, 2009 Area home foreclosures doubled in 2008 Expect more of the same in 2009, Realtor says By Del Lessard Staff Writer Property foreclosures in Okaloosa County have increased sevenfold in the past four years, steadily rocketing from 278 in 2005 to 1,969 in 2008. Properties in foreclosure include undeveloped property, single family homes, commer- cial properties and condomini- ums. Of course not every property that begins the foreclosure process ends up being sold at auction, according to Vicky Jackson, a deputy clerk of court in the Shalimar office. Often times the property owner will arrange for the financing to pay off the amount in default before the courts sell it at auction, including short sales. In addi- tion, foreclosure filings often drag on for months, meaning many properties that entered the foreclosure process in one year continue into the following year. There are already 67 homes and other properties scheduled for sale on the courthouse steps in January, and another 15 scheduled for a February auc- tion sale. In December, 19 homes were sold by the clerk of court, including two in the Niceville area, according to the Clerk of Court. The record 2008 fore- closure total was double that of the already high level of the previous year. Expect the torrid foreclosure pace to continue in 2009, said Niceville Realtor Ray DiTirro, as sinking property values make it harder to refinance mort- gages. As five-year adjustable rate mortgages and interest-only mortgages reset this year, many property owners will find their properties are worth less than what they owe, DiTirro said. Therefore they won't be able to take advantage of current favor- able mortgage interest rates hovering around 5 percent. Instead, DiTirro predicted that many of those caught owing more than their property is worth will either default and * Beal Parkway 573 North Beal Parkway Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548 850-862-0295 Niceville 191 East John Sims Parkway Niceville, FL 32578 850-729-1014 P I OIL CHANGE More Than Just FULL SERVICE Change Motor Oil (up to 5 Qts.) Oil Changes! OIL CHANGE (up to 5 Qts.) 10W30 Mobil I 10W30 Mobil l lr 14-Point S* New Oil Filter V $Service Most Vehicles Check I SWith Coupon Only. Expires 01/22/09 l With Coupon Only. Expires 01/22/09 I-- - O NG" INOW SERVICING DIESELS I PRESEASON COOLING SYRE-SEASON STEM I 00 With Coupon Only. TA/C CHECK 1 E$ 0 F Expires 01/22/09 1 AC CHECK SERVICE 410 John Sims Parkway . ....." T -i- S90 678-1789 BRAKE SPECIAL TRANSMISSIONI x 4 Mon. Fri. 8:00-5:30 p.m. $ 90 SERVI Drain& Refill Radiator Sat. 8:00-12:30 p.m. Per Axlees Most Cars with up to 1 Gallon of LMd IRefrigerant Extra Antifreeze. 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Last summer the family moved out of the home-even though both the husband and wife have jobs-because they were unable to meet their adjusted mortgage payments. Some homeowners unable to sell last year are renting their homes, DiTirro said. For exam- ple he told of two Niceville homeowners, both pilots in the Air Force, who tried to sell their homes last year after receiving orders to a new station. The drop in property values made it hard to sell either home, even when priced to just break even. Potential buyers, also military members, were unable to buy the homes because they them- selves owned homes in other parts of the country that they could not sell, the Realtor said. In both cases the Niceville mili- tary homeowners ended up rent- ing their homes to other mili- tary members getting assigned to Eglin, he said. "The market right now is $400,000 and under market," said DiTirro. DiTirro said values of condo- miniums, chiefly in resort areas of the county, dropped an aver- age of 46 percent last year, according to an industry source. The good news is that the rate of decline has slowed, although the bottom of the local market still hasn't been reached, DiTirro said. The federal "bailout" has yet to work, DiTirro said, since too few banks seem willing to lend money to those seeking to refi- nance. With a new administra- tion about to take over in Washington, he said "there's got to be a point where bailout money filters down to home- owner loans." qga CPace Mortgage Loan Originator Niceville Banking Center Office: (850) 729-8885 Cell: (850) 376-4924 SusanPacepeoplesfirstcom HPeopesFrst pew C ComityBa The best bank tinhe neighborhood. tltr www.peoplesfirst.com 1181 E. John Sims Parkway, Niceville, Florida 32578 (850) 678-1080 Fax: (850) 729-3225 info@eglinflyer.com Stephen W. 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