By Andy Owens
aowens@scbiznews.com
Published Jan. 14, 2009

While Berkeley and Dorchester counties posted double-digit declines in distressed housing from November to December, foreclosures were up nearly 10% in Charleston County, according to a national real estate tracking firm.

RealtyTrac, which released its monthly and year-end foreclosure market reports this morning, showed a 20% increase in foreclosure filings across South Carolina from November to December. The state saw a 15.2% year-over-year increase for the month.

Year-to-year numbers show filings were up 98.66% in Charleston County in 2009 when compared to 2008. Berkeley County posted a 43.93% increase, and Dorchester County showed a 68.94% increase from 2008 to 2009, RealtyTrac reported.

For 2009, total foreclosure filings, from basic notices of default to full bank repossessions, were up 67.81% in South Carolina when compared to 2008, RealtyTrac reported. In 2008, that number was 253% higher than 2007 numbers.

December foreclosures were up in the state’s population centers, including Charleston County (9.21%), Lexington County (52.28%), Richland County (36%), Greenville County (79.13%) and Spartanburg County (50%).

RealtyTrac numbers put South Carolina in the middle of the pack among housing markets, ranking it 25th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia. Foreclosure numbers are highest in Nevada, Florida and Arizona. The smallest numbers of foreclosures show up in Vermont, North Dakota and West Virginia, RealtyTrac said.

Nationally, foreclosures were up 21% from 2008, the company reported, with more than 2.8 million properties having received a filing against it during 2009.

A spike in foreclosures in December and the long-term supply of delinquent loans continues to loom over the housing market, and many of those delinquencies will end up in the foreclosure process in 2010, said RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio.

“As bad as the 2009 numbers are, they probably would have been worse if not for legislative and industry-related delays in processing delinquent loans,” Saccacio said. “After peaking in July with over 361,000 homes receiving a foreclosure notice, we saw four straight monthly decreases, driven primarily by short-term factors: trial loan modifications, state legislation extending the foreclosure process and an overwhelming volume of inventory clogging the foreclosure pipeline.”

Foreclosures across major S.C. markets for November to December

Source: RealtyTrac