Foreclosures plummet in Aspen area
The Aspen Times
falling foreclosures
Filings in Pitkin County:
2010 — 144
2011 — 113
2012 — 113
2013 — 57
Foreclosure filings in Pitkin County in 2013 dropped to their lowest level since before the recession and to just half the number filed in 2012, according to a report by real estate agent Garret Brandt.
Brandt’s report looked at foreclosure filings throughout the Roaring Fork Valley using information from the public trustees in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties. Brandt has tracked foreclosures since the recession hit in 2008.
There were 57 filings in Pitkin County in 2013 compared with 113 each of the prior two years, the report said. Foreclosure filings peaked in Pitkin County with 144 in 2010. There were just 35 in 2008.
The value of the property that faced foreclosure also has plummeted. The dollar value of the 2013 foreclosure filings was $37.08 million, Brandt said. The value was $93.36 million in 2012.
A foreclosure filing doesn’t necessarily result in a foreclosure. Property owners can restructure their loans, pay off the loan or arrange with the creditor to sell.
Foreclosure filings in the Roaring Fork Valley portions of Eagle and Garfield counties also fell drastically in 2013, according to Brandt’s report.
In the Basalt and El Jebel portion of Eagle County, there were 30 foreclosure filings in 2013 compared with 51 the year before. That is a decrease of 41 percent. The number of foreclosure filings in that part of the valley peaked at 107 in 2011. There were only three in 2008.
The dollar value of property facing foreclosure dropped to $13.68 million in 2013 compared with $33.32 million the year before, Brandt’s report showed.
In the Roaring Fork Valley portion of Garfield County, foreclosure filings fell 61 percent from 2012 to 2013. There were 74 filings in 2013 compared with 190 in 2012.
The Glenwood Springs and Carbondale areas were hit hard with foreclosures after the recession. There were 20 in 2008, followed by 143 in 2009 and 179 in 2010.
Foreclosures in that part of the valley peaked at 255 in 2011.
The value of property facing foreclosure fell from $78.24 million in 2012 to $43.03 million in 2013.
For the Roaring Fork Valley as a whole, foreclosure filings fell 54 percent from 354 in 2012 to 161 in 2013, Brandt reported.
Bar Talk: Barraquito
On a recent trip to Spain, I discovered something that I believe tops the espresso martini. It’s called a barraquito.
