Denver metro foreclosures continued to climb in the second quarter, with Adams and Jefferson counties on track for sizable increases.
The rate so far in six of seven metro-area counties shows that repossessions in metro Denver could outdistance last year, when foreclosures hit 12,393, the highest level since 1988.
Public trustees attribute the increase to bad borrowing and lending decisions, relatively flat home prices and lagging income growth. The metro area has seen job growth this year, but the recession hit Denver and its surrounding suburbs hard in 2001. The fallout from lost jobs has boosted foreclosures.
“I keep thinking it’s slowing down, and then it’s a blizzard coming in,” said Jeannie Reeser, Adams County public trustee.
In certain older parts of Thornton around Emerson and Ogden streets, homeowners who are behind in payments are walking away from properties, she said.
Foreclosures in Adams County as of Monday were up 34.6 percent for April, May and June over the same time period last year. Foreclosures in Jefferson County were up 32 percent in April and May over the same time last year. (No June figures were available Monday from Jefferson County.)
With three days left in the second quarter, foreclosures also are up in Arapahoe, Boulder and Denver counties. Broomfield County had the same number of repossessions, and no figures were available from Douglas County.
The six counties so far in the second quarter have 3,090 foreclosures, compared with 2,677 for the second quarter last year. That’s a 15.4 percent jump.
Foreclosures for the six counties increased at a 12.5 percent rate in the first quarter.
Sandy Hume, Boulder County public trustee, said high levels of more stable public-sector employment at the University of Colorado and several federal labs located there have buffered Boulder County to a degree. But the county is still on track for an increase in foreclosures of 8.6 percent for the second quarter.
“I’m worried about the kinds of loans being made out there now,” Hume said, referring to subprime and interest-only loans that make it easy to get into a home but hard to pay off as interest rates rise.
Staff writer Steve McMillan can be reached at 303-820-1695 or smcmillan@denverpost.com.
