HARRISBURG PA – Just as the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Association of Realtors (PAR) forewarned Tuesday (Nov. 3, 2009) that there was “no end in sight for foreclosures” across the state or the nation, the most recent Montgomery County (PA) Sheriff’s Department records indicate at least 16 Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township properties were in some stage of foreclosure or being prepared for public sale.
A potential sign of more bad news to come: today’s edition of The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper carries two full classified advertising pages announcing additional sheriff’s sales.
PAR, the trade group representing the state’s licensed real estate brokers and sales people, in its “Just Listed” blog Tuesday cited statistics that reported nearly a million property owners nationwide received foreclosure notices in the 2009 third quarter that ended only four days ago.
It also said so-called strategic defaults – in which property owners purposely decided against paying their mortgages so they could pay other bills instead – had risen 128 percent over the last reporting period.
Ominously, PAR offered two observations for coming months. Foreclosures in Pennsylvania, which until now have been modest compared to the rest of the country, have slowly begun to rise, it said. And because housing markets in Pennsylvania lag rather than lead national trends, it added, foreclosures in the state are likely to increase in coming months.
The trend may be reflected by the number of properties in Lower Pottsgrove currently listed by county Sheriff John Durante as in some stage of the foreclosure process. Durante’s latest sheriff’s sale was scheduled for last Wednesday (Oct. 28, 2009). Among properties in the township then on its roles:
10 were postponed for sale until Nov. 25 (2009; Wednesday)
- 1258 N. Charlotte St., outstanding debt $7,103;
- 1 Creekside Dr., $5,855;
- 1935 N. Charlotte St., $209,390;
- 2680 Sky Top Rd., $197,672;
- 213A S. Park Rd., $226,395;
- 3608 Walnut Ridge Estates, $131,876;
- 485 N. Pleasant View Rd., $154,869;
- 73 Timberview Dr., $360,574;
- 1482 Oakdale Dr., $217,567; and
- 7 Durham Ct., $259,171.
One was postponed for sale to Dec. 30 (2009; Wednesday)
- 228 S. Park Rd., outstanding debt $115,057.
Two were postponed for sale until Jan. 27 (2010; Wednesday)
- 5 Creekside Dr., outstanding debt $172,802; and
- 2602 Terraced Hills Ct., $107,679.
Three were stayed, meaning their sale was canceled:
- 403 Walnut Ridge Estates, outstanding debt $107,397;
- 3701 Walnut Ridge Estates, $144,763; and
- 215 Creekside Dr., $151,975.
There is no guarantee any sale will occur. Postponements or stays likely were because owners and their lenders are at work on, or completed, agreements that bring a property out of foreclosure or allow it to be sold privately.
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