Monday, December 21, 2009, 2:56pm MST | Modified: Monday, December 21, 2009, 10:01pm

Foreclosure sales down from 2008, but new filings up, in Colorado’s urban counties

Denver Business Journal - by Mark Harden

Foreclosure auction sales in urban Colorado counties declined 13 percent in the first 11 months of 2009 from the same period of 2008, the state Department of Local Affairs’ Division of Housing reported Monday.

But at the same time, new foreclosure filings rose 12 percent in the 12 urban counties covered by the report, officials said.

In Denver itself, new foreclosure filings changed only slightly between 2008 and 2009, while completed foreclosure sales fell 33 percent.

There were 36,628 foreclosure filings and 14,975 foreclosure sales from January through November this year in Colorado’s 12 urban counties, versus 32,744 filings and 17,160 sales in the same months of 2008, the new report said.

For November alone, foreclosure sales in the urban counties were down 0.5 percent from same month of 2008, to 1,512, while new foreclosure filings rose 11.8 percent, to 2,802, the state report said.

Both filings and sales declined between October and November of this year in the urban parts of Colorado, by 13.4 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.

“At this point, it appears very unlikely that the number of completed foreclosures will reach the totals set in 2007 and 2008,” Division of Housing spokesman Ryan McMaken said in a statement.

“November was a relatively light month for foreclosures, but with new foreclosure filings still up compared to last year, foreclosures will continue to be a challenge,” McMaken added.

The 12 counties covered by the report include the Denver metro area counties — Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Douglas and Jefferson — as well as El Paso (Colorado Springs), Larimer (Fort Collins), Mesa (Grand Junction), Pueblo and Weld (Greeley) counties.

For January through November of this year in the Denver metro area, new foreclosure filings rose the most in Boulder County (up 39 percent) and Broomfield (up 23 percent) from the same period of 2008.

There was almost no change in filings in Denver between 2008 and 2009 and only a 3 percent rise in Arapahoe County.

As for completed foreclosure sales, changes varied widely from a 126 percent increase in Boulder County to Denver’s 33 percent decrease and Adams County’s 22 percent drop.

Click here to download the full Division of Housing foreclosure report, including county-by-county tables.

mharden@bizjournals.com