After 2 years, foreclosure landscape is changing

Bay area homeowners continue to fall into trouble with their mortgages, but the local foreclosure landscape is changing.

Neighborhoods that were once considered fairly stable are now feeling the brunt of the economic downturn. Meanwhile, areas that were hit early on during the mortgage meltdown are beginning to bounce back.

This is according to data from Calif.-based RealtyTrac, which monitors foreclosure activity across the nation.

The top two Hillsborough County ZIP codes, ranked by the number of filings in the first quarter, are 33647 in New Tampa and 33615 in Town 'n' Country. Both areas had 273 filings - default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. That number represents jumps of 15 and 26 percent, respectively, from two years ago.

Miles to the south, is Riverview, which has been a foreclosure hot spot for years, but the area has begun to cool down. The combined total of 464 filings in ZIP codes 33578, 33569 and 33579 was up only 4 percent from 2008.

Real estate agents say they've noticed the changes.

"Riverview was more investor owned when the crash hit," said Calum MacKenzie of Tampa Homes 24-7 LLC. "These folks didn't have any help from the government so they foreclosed faster. New Tampa was more owner-occupied and those folks were able to hold on a little longer. Now, many can't hold on any longer."

Another driving force, MacKenzie said, is condo conversions.

During the housing boom, developers bought apartment complexes by the dozens and sold the units as condominiums. Investors swooped in, bought the units and have been renting them. Now that values have dropped drastically, many are walking away, leaving the units in foreclosure.

"Some paid $150,000 at the peak in 2006 for a unit that is now worth about $50,000," MacKenzie said.

As housing prices fell, areas such as Town 'n' Country became popular among investors, MacKenzie said.

Riverview, which was the epicenter of new construction during Hillsborough County's building boom, is by no means out of the woods.

JPMorgan Chase executives say so many of their Riverview customers continue to fall behind on payments that the lender recently decided to open a loan counseling center in the area.

Real estate agent Joe LaForm, of Exit Bayshore Realty, works primarily in the Riverview area and said neighborhoods there are still suffering the repercussions of foreclosure.

The numbers may not reflect all of the troubled loans, though, because lenders are working with more homeowners to keep them in their homes, he said.

Lenders have notoriously been slow to respond to troubled homeowners. Requests for short sales - selling the home for less than the loan value - have dragged on for months. LaForm said that's changed over the past month, and more financially-strapped homeowners are opting to sell rather than go through foreclosure.

"I think it's just a matter of time," he said. "If banks continue to get answers to us faster, things will turn around in a couple of years."

As a result of all the distressed sales, Riverview prices have plummeted. The good part of that, LaForm said, is that first-time and move-up buyers are attracted to the deals. As those buyers move in, the neighborhood improves and prices start to stabilize again.

Experts say they think the foreclosure market is improving. Overall filings are down, however, lenders continue to take back homes at record levels, RealtyTrac data shows.

In Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties combined, lenders took 787 homes in April - up 23 percent yearly and 12 percent compared with the previous month.

Still, total foreclosure filings decreased 19 percent from the previous month and 25 percent from a year ago.