The metro Atlanta housing market has taken another encouraging step toward full recovery as foreclosure filings dropped 22 percent from April to May.
There were 1,772 filings in the 13 core counties of metro Atlanta this month, down from 2,277 the month before, according to a report provided to the Journal-Constitution by Kennesaw-based Equity Depot.
“It’s a definite drop down,” said Barry Bramlett, CEO of the Kennesaw-based company, which collects the data. They are “almost back to January levels after a bit of an increase over the last 3 months.”
Foreclosure filings, made each month, do not always mean the loss of a home. If the owner pays what is owed, he or she can often keep the home from being sold at auction the next month.
But even when the owner slips out of that knot, such a filing nearly always is a sign of financial stress. And sometimes the attempt to prevent foreclosure only postpones the inevitable.
In 2010, at the peak of the crisis, the region recorded more than 50,000 foreclosure filings in the first five months of the year. In the first five months of this year, the region has seen 10,029 filings, according to Equity Depot.
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