A foreclosure sign sits atop a for sale sign in front of a single-family home in Denver.After a reprieve in 2011 from the previous five years of steadily rising property foreclosures, the number of Hamilton County properties lost to bad debts appears to be on the increase again.
In the first quarter of 2012, local foreclosures jumped by nearly 22 percent from the same period a year ago, according to filings with the Hamilton County Register of Deeds.
“Foreclosures in 2011 were artificially low because of some interventions and delays in processing foreclosures,” said Daren Bloomquist, vice president for RealtyTrac, a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties. “Because of that, we’re going to see an uptick in 2012 as lenders catch up with some of those delayed foreclosures.”
RealtyTrac projects about 1 million American homeowners will lose their properties to foreclosure this year, up from 804,000 last year.
In Hamilton County during the first three months of the year, lenders foreclosed on 308 properties, or 55 more than the same period of 2011.