Modesto-area foreclosures trending downward

Foreclosures continue edging downward throughout the Northern San Joaquin Valley and California, but the totals still are staggering.

Since the mortgage mess began in 2007, more than 69,000 homes in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties have been lost to foreclosure.

Just-released DataQuick stats show nearly 1,200 Stanislaus homes, about 1,400 in San Joaquin and 585 in Merced were repossessed by lenders this April, May and June. That’s significantly fewer than during the spring of 2009 or 2010 and less than half as many as during spring 2008.

The number of homeowners receiving notices of mortgage default — the first step in the foreclosure process — also were down this spring throughout the region.

“A lot of theories are being floated as to why the numbers are down. Bank policy changes. Legal challenges. Politics. Holding back temporarily so as not to flood the market. The fact of the matter is that no one really knows, outside of lending and servicing industry insiders,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

Walsh said one thing is certain: “Homeowner distress spreads fastest when home price declines are steepest. And it now appears likely that, barring some new economic shock, the worst of the price declines are behind us.”