State foreclosures surge

A jump in December pushes monthly and year-end totals to their highest since 2005

A triple-digit increase in December foreclosures transformed Hawaii into a top 10 state for foreclosure activity and pushed monthly and year-end totals to their highest level since 2005.

RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, reported today that 1,534 Hawaii properties received foreclosure notices last month. The December tally, which equated to one in every 330 Hawaii properties in foreclosure, rose above the national rate of one per every 366 households, RealtyTrac said.

"The increases don't bode well for Hawaii," said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac's marketing communications manager. "Hawaii hit No. 10 in December. I didn't think that would happen, and there are indications that the problems are more broad-based than I initially thought."

While the fallout from speculative buying during the last peak has hurt Hawaii regions where second-home markets were strong, the range of foreclosures shows that high unemployment, a struggling economy, adjustable-rate mortgage increases and balloon payments coming due are taking a toll, Blomquist said.

For the year, Hawaii foreclosures rose 183 percent to 9,002, the most since RealtyTrac began tracking the issue in April 2005, he said. One in every 56 Hawaii households experienced a foreclosure in 2009, Blomquist said.

Typically, numbers fall the month after a big spike; however, there's no sign that the problem will abate this year, he said.

"We won't see the eye-popping increases that we saw in 2009, but there will still be double-digit increases," Blomquist said.

During December and for the year, the neighbor islands continued to be hardest hit, he said.

"For the year, they are all above the national average," Blomquist said. "It might be because they tend to be more dependent on tourism and second-home buyers."

RealtyTrac identified similar trends in places like Idaho and Utah, which attracted second-home buyers during the last boom.

Still, the latest statistics show that Hawaii's foreclosure problems have spread beyond resort and second-home markets, he said.

By year's end, one in every 84 Honolulu households had experienced a foreclosure, RealtyTrac said. Ewa Beach posted the second highest level of foreclosures among Hawaii neighborhoods in December and for the year. Waipahu and Waianae joined Ewa Beach on both lists, and Waikiki and Kapolei were added to the year-end hot spots.

Georgia Roberson, real estate-owned director for Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, links high foreclosure rates in Kapolei to Ko Olina's declining second-home market, but said problems in Ewa Beach, Waianae and Waipahu are due in larger part to mortgages with rising interest rates or balloon payments. Tighter underwriting has hurt Oahu's condominium and condotel market, too, she said.

"I recently closed on three condominiums in Harbor Square and I've got a fourth pending," Roberson said. "When the market is down and financing is difficult, it's harder for sellers to find buyers."

While rising Hawaii foreclosures have driven pricing down in some neighborhoods and displaced residents and renters, some segments of the population are benefiting.

"I've already had four closings this year and three of them were distressed properties," said Howard Dinits, a Realtor with RE/MAX Resort Realty in Wailea, who specializes in Big Island and Maui sales.

Buyers like Rebecca and Dave Renfroe of Ottawa, Canada, are finding deals.

"We came to Maui about two years ago and decided that buying a second home here was out of our price range," Renfroe said.

"This time around, we found 16 distressed properties in our price range. It's all half off."

Dinits helped the couple find a bank-owned condominium in Lahaina for $250,000, less than half of the $560,000 that it sold for in 2005.

NO PLACE TO CALL HOME

Hawaii's monthly foreclosures over the past year,
including the year-over-year percentage gain:

2009

MONTH	TOTAL	CHANGE
December	1,534	+207.4%
November	872	+121.9%
October	925	+134.2%
September	969	+63.1%
August	869	+158.6%
July	990	+332.3%
June	706	+426.9%
May	816	+397.6%
April	684	+216.7%
March	724	+503.3%
February	537	+275.5%
January	337	+174.0%

2008

MONTH	TOTAL	CHANGE
December	499	+283.8%

Hawaii's December foreclosures by area,
including the year-over-year percentage gain:

AREA	TOTAL	CHANGE
Big Island	517	+345.7%
Maui	297	+175.0%
Kauai	77	+113.9%
Honolulu	643	+169.0%

Source: RealtyTrac