Gloom, But Not Doom, in Cecil Housing Market

   It was nice to see the Whig write about housing foreclosures in Cecil County in Tuesday’s editions, focusing on a counselor who is working with families and their mortgage lenders to find solutions. We’ve been hearing about the foreclosure “crisis” nationally for quite some time so it was overdue for the Whig to write about the local scene. But there is more to the housing picture in Cecil County.

    A local Realtor, Megan McGonigal, has been posting monthly information and analysis of Cecil County home sale trends and a look at the data shows all is not doom for the housing market here. In fact, the length of time for the buying market to “absorb” all the homes available for sale has improved since February.  And in July, the average days on the market before a house sold was 166 days, up just 19 days from the 147 days it took to sell homes in July, 2007.  You can read her report here:

http://cecilcountyconnection.com/blog.cecilcountyconnection/2008/09/29/what-is-the-cecil-county-real-estate-market-doing-august-2008/

    There is a wealth of data about Cecil County houses that are in pre-foreclosure status (papers filed but not yet taken over) and bank-owned houses on the Realty Trac website. Most recent stats for Cecil are 53 houses in pre-foreclosure and 31 bank-owned homes.

  Cecil County has the highest numbers for the Eastern Shore but is well below the figures for counties on the Western Shore. In August, new foreclosure filings were 36 in Cecil County, in comparison with 930 for Prince George’s County– the highest in the state– and 15 in Caroline County, the lowest.  Statewide, there were 30,661 new foreclosure filings since the beginning of the year.

   You can see a list with street names, but not actual house numbers, of Cecil County properties in pre-foreclosure or bank ownership. Click on the tabs at the top of the heading to look at pre-foreclosure, bank-owned, etc. The link is here:

http://www.realtytrac.com/MapSearch/MD/Cecil-county-government-owned-homes.html#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

Tags: Business, cecil county, Cecil Whig, foreclosure, houses, real estate