Real estate | Foreclosure filings drop in 2011

It wasn’t a big drop, but there were fewer foreclosure filings in Horry County in 2011 than the previous year, a positive sign as the Grand Strand real estate market tries to find a path to stability.

About 3,642 Horry County properties had foreclosure filings in 2011, about 2.08 percent of all housing units in the county, according to a report released last week by RealtyTrac, a company that tracks foreclosures nationally.

With one in every 48 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, Horry County has the fourth-highest rate of foreclosures in the state, behind Dorchester, Beaufort and Berkeley counties, according to RealtyTrac.

While there are thousands more foreclosures than a few years ago, the number of filings did drop about 6.52 percent from 2010, according to RealtyTrac.

If the dip in filings actually translates to a decline in foreclosures it would be a good thing for the Grand Strand, said Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst for the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors. So far the drop in filings is not translating to fewer short sales and foreclosure sales, he said.

About 30 percent of single-family home sales and about 34 percent of condo sales were either foreclosures or short sales last year, not much of a change from the year before, Maeser said.

“I’m not sure what will happen next year because of how much banks are holding onto and will release next year,” he said.

Rally for homeownership

Last week more than 850 South Carolinians, homebuilders and Realtors gathered on the steps of the S.C. Statehouse to rally in support of homeownership at an event organized by the Home Builders Association of South Carolina.

Politicians, including Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, spoke in support of homeownership at the rally.

“[People] couldn’t believe that two people could agree homeownership was important regardless of party affiliation,” said Mark Nix, the executive officer of the S.C. Home Builders Association.

The goal of the event was to raise awareness and speak out against reducing or removing the Homeowner Mortgage Interest Deduction, continuing foreclosures and the inability of some qualified potential homeowners to get financing, he said.

“You have to start the conversation in some way,” Nix said. “To be part of the policy debate you have to show that people care about it.”

The turnout and response was proof of that, he said, and because of the success of the event the National Association of Home Builders is working to replicate it in other states.

The group also had some recent poll results on their side, which found that 98 percent of S.C. homeowners are happy with their decision to buy a home and 79 percent believe that despite risks of the fluctuations in the housing market, owning a home is one of the best-long term investments. The poll, which surveyed 500 South Carolinians likely to vote in 2012, was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Lake Research Partners on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders.

About 73 percent of those surveyed said they believe it is reasonable for the federal government to provide tax incentives to promote homeownership and about 65 percent said they would less likely vote for a candidate for Congress who would support eliminating the mortgage interest deduction.