Austin Foreclosed Home Auction: 68% Rise in Homes to be Sold
In the Austin metropolitan area, the number of homes listed for the June 2 foreclosed home auction has risen to its highest level since Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service started monitoring foreclosures in 2000.
Since the start of 2009, nearly 6,500 homes have been posted for foreclosed home auctions in the Austin area, which comprises Hays, Travis, Williamson and Bastrop. In all the four counties, foreclosure postings increased during the first six months of the year.
For the June 2 foreclosed home auction, 138 homes in Hays will be posted, a rise of 68 percent from the 82 homes offered for sale in June 2008. The increase was 11 percent above the number this May and 109 percent above the number in June 2006.
In foreclosed home auctions in the second quarter, Hays County listed 372 homes, an increase of 44 percent from the 259 listed in last year’s second quarter.
Compared to June last year, the increase in postings was highest in Bastrop County, which had an increase of 56 percent. Next is Travis County, with an increase of 55 percent. Williamson County had a 51-percent increase while Hays had an increase of 39 percent.
All the four counties had an increased number of properties listed in foreclosed home auction events in the second quarter, the second straight quarter that the counties surpassed the 2,000 units in the Austin metropolitan area.
According to George Roddy, president of FLS, there was an increase in third-party buyers during the May auctions in the 19 Texas counties tracked by FLS. Investors and other third-party buyers purchased nearly 175 homes, representing over 6 percent of total properties listed in foreclosed home auction events in early May.
Roddy also added that investors got great bargains because they paid only 64 cents for every dollar of the appraised value.
According to Roddy, investors also try to make good purchase deals by trying to buy the foreclosed properties before they are put up in foreclosed home auctions. Typically, they have 21 days to work out a deal between the dates of the foreclosure filing and the foreclosed home auction.
The May 5 foreclosed home auction resulted in the sale of 172 foreclosure properties to third-party homebuyers, a decline of about 5 percent compared to the 184 units sold to third-party buyers in May 2008.
