Metro Atlanta foreclosure notices down in April

By David Markiewicz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published foreclosure notices in the 13-county metro Atlanta area fell about 25 percent in April from March, offering some hope that they may have peaked.

Last month, 12,568 notices were published, marking a record due in part to a few extra days in the reporting period. This month, the number declined to 9,494. That's also down from the 9,905 notices published in April 2009.

Still, foreclosure notices are up about 10 percent so far this year compared to the first four months of 2009.

"We may have topped out, and the real question is how long these huge numbers will continue," said Barry Bramlett, president of  Equity Depot, an Alpharetta-based real estate investor research company that released the data.

Fulton County had the most foreclosure notices in April  with 1,863,  followed by Gwinnett with 1,845,  DeKalb with 1,442,  Cobb with 1,196, and Clayton with 753.

The notices published this month are for auctions on the courthouse steps that will occur next month, unless deals are worked out meantime.

While residential real estate could be stabilizing, commercial real estate including office and retail segments is worsening, Bramlett said.

Notices of foreclosures  numbered 8,181 in metro Atlanta in January and 10,318 in February before soaring in March. For the year, the total  is 40,561. Last year, the numbers went up and down throughout the year and totaled 117,107. That was up from 79,484 in 2008, 58,076 in 2007, and 44,971 in 2006.

Bramlett said 90 properties with mortgages of at least $1 million had foreclosures pending in April, up from 71 properties in April, 2009. In the $500,000-plus mortgage segment, 343 properties were advertised for foreclosure in April, down from 384 in April of last year.