There were thirteen foreclosure sales at the Coconino County Courthouse in Flagstaff last week. Eight of them were of homes with Flagstaff mailing addresses (the portion of the real estate market that I specialize in). Listings of bank-owned properties are down from where they were this Spring in Flagstaff. Nationally, however, foreclosures may be about to increase in volume, according to Economist Mark Zandi, of Moody’s. Look for those eight Flagstaff homes sold last week to be back on the market as bank-owned listings on the MLS in about 60 days. Whether there are a lot more to follow is hard to tell.

Seth Wheeler, a senior adviser to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, says the government is “unlikely to implement another moratorium” like we had last winter. That moratorium reduced the number of bank-owned properties for sale this Spring. But Wheeler said the government plans to put in place some programs that encourage lenders to try some alternatives to foreclosure, such as renegotiation of mortgage terms for homeowners who want to stay in their homes, and incentives for banks to agree to short-sales when the owners have to move. Obviously, Mark Zandi does not think this will be enough to prevent the foreclosure rate from increasing in the face of continuing high unemployment and ARM-resets.

There are many foreclosure sales scheduled this week for Flagstaff. (Here is the list.) Experience tells us that the schedule will not hold, but some indeed will sell. I know that one that was on the list this morning is not going forward because it closed as a short-sale in June. There are probably others like that. There are surely others on the list that are listed in MLS as short-sales and the bank-negotiator will be pulling them off the foreclosure sale list in hopes that the property will be sold, saving the bank the expense of foreclosure, rehabilitation, and loss of time in selling. I have one in escrow for which that happened last week (I’m representing the buyer). With so many options open to banks faced with delinquent homeowners, as well as the summer pick-up in sales volume in Flagstaff, it’s hard to predict that Flagstaff will follow Mark Zandi’s prediction for foreclosure rates.

For help buying a short-sale or bank-owned property in Flagstaff, AZ, contact us: Team Heitland at RE/MAX Peak Properties. To prevent foreclosure and do a short-sale instead, call me: 928-714-0001.

End of week update: As in previous weeks, relatively few of the scheduled Flagstaff foreclosure sales made it to the block. Here's the final report for Flagstaff foreclosures July 6-10.