Foreclosure filings slow in July

Lenders continue to file fewer new foreclosure suits against Tampa Bay-area homeowners, but they aren't letting up on taking houses back.

Overall activity is also down. There were 6,031 filings - default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions - in a four-county Tampa metropolitan area in July, according to Calif.-based RealtyTrac. That's down 11 percent from the same month a year ago and down 10 percent from June.

Meanwhile, a separate report Wednesday showed a spike in area home sales - something that's needed to work off the large inventory of distressed homes.

The bright spot in the foreclosure report is that initial filings decreased. Lenders filed 2,973 foreclosure lawsuits in July, down from 4,765 during the same month a year ago. July's number also is down slightly from the 3,005 lawsuits filed in June.

But even though the initial foreclosure actions are slowing, more area homeowners had to give up their houses in July.

There were 945 bank repossessions, compared with 779 a year ago.

The monthly comparison varies. In June, lenders took back 1,117 homes, up from 886 in May and 787 in April.

The Tampa area, which includes Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties, mirrored Florida, where overall foreclosure activity decreased.

There were 51,557 filings in July in the Sunshine State. That's down 9 percent from a year ago. There was practically no change from the previous month.

Homeowners across the nation continue to lose homes despite government efforts to halt foreclosures. Part of the reason, RealtyTrac points out, is that some temporary foreclosure modifications have failed.

"Declines in default notices, which were down on a year-over-year basis for the sixth straight month in July, have been offset by near-record levels of bank repossessions, which increased on a year-over-year basis for the eighth straight month," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

Properties in foreclosure continue to appear to be luring buyers into the real estate market.

Existing home sales in the Tampa metropolitan area rose 29 percent during the second quarter, and prices were stagnant, according to a report released Wednesday by the Florida Realtors association.

There were 9,109 sales, up from 7,057 during the same period last year. Even more striking is the median sales price in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area. It barely moved.

The median sales price in the second quarter was $135,700, nearly the same as a year ago, when the median was $135,200. The median is the price at which half sold for more and half sold for less.

The quarterly sales price is a bit lower than June's, though. The median sales price then was $138,400.

Sales also jumped in the state as a whole.

Florida's sales rose 21 percent in second quarter compared with the same period last year.