Colorado's foreclosure rate viewed several ways
By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published March 11, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
No one denies the record number of foreclosures in Colorado last year or that the problem isn't going away anytime soon.
But a new report indicates that Colorado, compared with other states, isn't as bad off as many believe.
The Mortgage Bankers Association ranked Colorado No. 24 in the nation for "seriously delinquent" loans in the fourth quarter.
By contrast, the privately owned California-based RealtyTrac group, which uses a different methodology, said that Colorado was No. 5 in the nation for foreclosure rates last year and No. 1 in 2006.
The bankers association, better known as the MBA, ranked Colorado No. 15 in 2006. The state improved nine places last year - not because foreclosures slowed in Colorado but because they rose more in other states.
There were 39,915 foreclosures in Colorado in 2007, 40 percent higher than the previous record of 28,509 in 2006, according to the Colorado Division of Real Estate.
According to the MBA, 32,040 loans in Colorado, or 3.08 percent of the 1.04 million loans tracked by the mortgage industry trade group, were delinquent for 90 days or more and had started the foreclosure process. By comparison, 4.07 percent of loans in the third quarter of 1989 were seriously delinquent, the MBA said.
Despite all the media attention that RealtyTrac receives, the MBA numbers are more representative of what is happening in Colorado, contends Chris Holbert, president of the Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association.
"Absolutely, we have a foreclosure problem," Holbert said. "But in relation to other states, we are mid-range, not No. 1 or No. 5."
Rick Sharga, of RealtyTrac, said his firm compared the number of properties in foreclosures as a percentage of households, while the MBA tracks the percentage of loans in delinquency.
"Same church, different pews," Sharga said.
Colorado "seems to be at the vanguard of those (states) attempting to slow down the avalanche of foreclosures," he said. "Between its outreach program and legislative activity, it might be having a positive impact on the problem."
Two methods of calculating foreclosures
* The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates the percentage of mortgages in various stages, such as those that are 90 days or more delinquent and for which the foreclosure process has started.
* RealtyTrac counts the number of foreclosures as a percentage of U.S. Census housing data.
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March 11, 2008
10:14 a.m.
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