Could the foreclosure plague be ending?
Foreclosure filings were down 3% in October, the third consecutive month-over-month dip, according to RealtyTrac, the online seller of foreclosed homes.
To be sure, foreclosure rates are still elevated from a year ago: They're up 18% compared with October 2008. But the month-over-month decrease followed a 4% drop in filings during September and a 1% fall in August.
"Three consecutive monthly declines is unprecedented for our report, and, on first blush, an indication that the foreclosure tide may be turning," said James Saccacio, RealtyTrac's CEO, in a prepared statement.
GDP up, unemployment rise is slowing, stocks have rebounded a bit, and forclosures are dropping. Things are starting to (admittedly slowly) turn around.
Of course we'll hear the obligatory comments from the right that (after a scant 10 months in office) Obama caused the economic meltdown and that if we'd done what conservatives wanted we'd be out of it already. We'll hear comments like "you promised miracles, this is nothing, it's no better".
Let's remember back to what President Obama said during the campaign. It will be a long, slow, tough recovery. It will take a few years, most likely. It will not happen overnight.
It's actually starting to happen (note that I said "starting to happen"), so if you are going to lamely comment in the vein of "it's not fixed yet, this is just one data point", I'll save you the time. I agree...we are not out of the woods. The latest indicators just show us pointed in the right direction. I'd be a lot happier if unemployment started dropping, but (like in every recession/depression) that will take time, and be the last item on the recovery.
But the recovery is starting.
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