New Foreclosure Stats

Almost all of the foreclosure numbers we hear about come from RealtyTrac. While we have had some questions about their methods, their numbers have a big impact on the housing market, governmental programs and just about everything else. There is criticism that the Federal Government should be collecting their own numbers - not basing policies on RealtyTrac's data.

So it is good to have numbers from another source. Property Shark, a competing firm, has a press release titled New Jersey Foreclosures Up Only .95% Over Q4 2007, and Down 34% from Q3 2008; Essex, Bergen, Union and Monmouth Counties Had the Most New Foreclosures in Q4 2008 on the number foreclosure stats that they have found. Lets take a look -

Key Report Findings

· New Jersey Foreclosures up only .95% over Q4 2007, but down 34% from Q3 2008: Compared to Q3 2008 (3,054), the current number of new foreclosures (2,029) decreased 34% in New Jersey. However, when compared to Q4 2007, new foreclosures increased slightly (.95%).

· Essex (204), Bergen (197), Union (176) and Monmouth (167) counties had the most new foreclosures in Q4 2008: Essex County (204) had the highest number of new foreclosures in Q4 2008, followed by Bergen County (197), Union County (176) and Monmouth County (167). The New Jersey counties with the fewest new foreclosures in the quarter were Salem County (14) and Hunterdon County (18).

· Newark, Trenton, Paterson and Jersey City had the most new foreclosures among New Jersey cities in Q4 2008: The city of Newark (110) had the highest number of new foreclosures in New Jersey during Q4 2008. Trenton followed with 58 new foreclosures, while the cities of Paterson and Jersey City each had 55.

· Sussex (0.10%), Union (0.9%), and Passaic (0.8%) counties had the highest rate of foreclosures per household in Q4 2008: One in every 985 homes in Sussex County, one in every 1,113 homes in Union County, and one in every 1,217 homes in Passaic County were scheduled for auction during Q4 2008.
New Jersey Overview

· New foreclosure auctions: Compared to Q3 2008 (3,054), the number of new foreclosures in Q4 2008(2,029) decreased 34%. However, when compared to Q4 2007, new foreclosures remained were up slightly (.95%).

They have also included this chart illustrating the numbers per county -


This important data should be collected by the state's themselves. How can one make good policy based on questionable data. Just because it makes headlines does not mean it is accurate or valid. But until we receive data from the state, data from different sources is important will give a more accurate picture in which to base program and policies.