Farmington foreclosures on the decline in 2012

Talk about it

A downward slide isn’t always a bad thing, especially when it comes to the number of foreclosures in Farmington. In the case of foreclosures, fewer is better.

It’s a downward trend Farmington assistant city planner Tony Wippler is glad to see.

According to the recent numbers released by Dakota County, the number of foreclosures in Farmington has gone down for the second year in a row, and the number of notices of pendency has come down significantly from an all-time high in 2009.

In 2012, there were 123 sheriff’s sales in Farmington. That’s down from 176 in 2011, and 203 in 2010, Wippler said.

The sheriff’s sales are the final phase of a foreclosure. A notice of pendency is filed at the beginning of a foreclosure movement by the bank or mortgage company for a given property, Wippler said. Notices of pendency tend to be higher than the number of sheriffs sales because some homeowners are able to meet their financial obligations and stop the foreclosure proceedings before the home goes to a sheriff’s sale.

In 2009, a record 372 notices of pendency were filed in Farmington, Wippler said. That number dropped to 346 in 2010, and again to 240 in 2011. The number of notices of pendency stayed consistent in 2012, with a total of 241.

“I think we’re seeing an overall trend of these numbers going downward,” Wippler said. “I hear the market is getting better, jobs are being added. It’s hard to say what’s happening. Every situation is different as to why houses go into foreclosure in the first place.”

A lower number of foreclosures also means fewer foreclosed homes are on the market, he added. That can help to drive up home sales elsewhere in the community over time.

However, Wippler doesn’t expect to see many new housing developments any time soon. There are several plats open, with about 400 available lots for new housing. Coupled with the current inventory of available housing – including foreclosed properties for sale – he thinks it will be a couple of years before more plats come to the city.

“We can’t really plan for foreclosures. All we can do is plan our community the best we can and make it the most livable we can,” he said.

The city of Farmington keeps track of where the foreclosed homes are within the city limits. That way, Wippler said, city staff and police can keep an eye on the properties and try to deter any vandalism to those homes.

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