Does That Mean, Mission Accomplished?

In my previous post, I published the foreclosure filings and foreclosure sales in Pinellas County. It’s clear that we’ve turned a corner based on the low number of new foreclosure filings, but there are also very interesting nuggets within the data. Specifically, looking at the numbers related to the foreclosure auctions really paints a compelling picture. (Post Here)

From October to January there were 2,820 sales set but only 393 of those properties went to third parties. Why is this significant? Well, what happened to all the other ones?  The bulk (1453) went back to the plaintiff…what are they doing with those homes? Are people being allowed to stay? Are they trickling back onto the market?

And look at how many were cancelled…(974). The larger takeaway is how many hundreds of millions in state taxpayer dollars were spent to push foreclosures to final judgment when the ultimate outcome was only 393 third party sales. Mighten we have accomplished more with taxpayer dollars with a more thoughtful approach.

Or put another way,

WHAT THE HELL WAS THE POINT OF THE FORECLOSURE PURGE WHEN SO MANY SALES WERE CANCELLED OR REVERTED TO PLAINTIFF?

(Oh yeah, the numbers on spreadsheets)