The trend line for Ventura County Notice of Defaults (first stage of a foreclosure) had seen a gentle decrease over the past 12 months until August, when the numbers dramatically shot up.

Specifically, July saw 401 Notice of Defaults but August recorded 678, an almost 70% increase. It takes a minimum of 3 months before a Notice of Trustee Sale can be recorded, and another 21 days before the auction can be set, so we won’t see a spike in REO properties until at least the end of the year.

Also, we’ve seen a lot of properties where the lender sets an auction date, but delays the sale month to month for many months. Shadow inventory issues??

Whatever the reason, it would appear lenders are rapidly stepping up their foreclosures in the County.