All Seasons Blog

Colorado Springs-area foreclosure activity declined again in October — the latest in a series of positive signs for the local single-family housing market, a national report showed Thursday.

The Springs-area foreclosure rate — measured by the percentage of properties in some state of foreclosure — fell to 1.16 percent in October from 1.53 percent during the same month last year, according to CoreLogic, a California-based housing research firm. The local foreclosure rate has seen year-over-year declines each month since April 2011, the report showed.

Meanwhile, the percentage of properties with mortgages that were delinquent for 90 days or longer fell to 3.62 percent in October from 4.11 percent a year earlier. The delinquent rate also has been in a steady decline for much of the past two years.

“It’s on a track heading in the right direction,” said Joe Clement, owner of Re/Max Properties in Colorado Springs. “Now, is it going to stay that way? I don’t know.”

While foreclosure activity has waned, and home construction, sales and prices all have improved for much of 2012, Clement said he worries that federal spending cuts could lead to layoffs in the local defense industry. Likewise, he wonders if some employers will reduce payrolls to avoid mandates in the nation’s federal health care law.

Fewer jobs for a local economy where the unemployment has been above 9 percent for months will only hurt gains made this year in housing, Clement said.

“It seems like it’s on the mend, but I don’t think we’re fixed,” Clement said of the single-family housing market. “There are too many question marks about 2013.”