Seattle Foreclosures: A Brief

While Seattle did well to avoid the foreclosure problem in '06 and '07, the region wasn't as fortunate in '08. However, while the rate of Seattle foreclosures is up, it is still 3% lower than the national average.

Analysts within the region are of the opinion that while there has been a decrease in inventories, the median prices of homes have remained fairly stable. While they do expect 2009 to have increased foreclosure activity, they also expect it to stay lower than what many other regions of the country are experiencing.

Seattle foreclosure properties also stand to gain from the federal housing program passed by the government last year as well as cuts in interest rates in 2009, which could lead to a further reduction in foreclosure numbers.

Measures such as these are encouraging many prospective buyers to buy a home before prices start to rise again. While this might not happen very soon, people who have the funds, and can afford to hold on to their new acquired property for some time, are looking at this as a good time to buy and keep.

Seattle foreclosures are finding favor with many of these prospective buyers. This is primarily because most of these homes end up selling for lesser than their estimated market values. Discounts of 10 to 20% are becoming fairly commonplace.

In buying a foreclosure affected home, you must remember that while many good deals are in the offing, some amount of caution must also be maintained. Foreclosure affected homes can be in different conditions, making it necessary to inspect these homes before committing to anything.

Since Seattle does have a fair number of home foreclosures, make sure that your search is extensive and well planned.