Published: July 19, 2008 04:04 pm      

Foreclosure rates here lower than many areas

Properties scheduled for foreclosure in August continued their climb in most Central Texas counties tracked by Foreclosure Listing Service, Inc., (FLS) but Hays fared better than several.

According to figures released last week by the FLS, which is based in Addison, a total of 73 Hays properties are scheduled for the auction block next month compared to 68 in August of last year, representing an increase of seven percent.

That compares to a 62 percent jump in Travis County (31 percent in the Austin Metro area), 53 percent in Bell County, 21 percent in Bexar (18 percent in the San Antonio Metro area), 11 percent in Williamson County and nine percent in McLennan County.

Conversely, there were six percent fewer listings anticipated for this August than last year in Bastrop County and nine percent fewer in Guadalupe County.

So far this year and including the August numbers, a total of 639 Hays properties have been listed for foreclosure compared to 478 in the first eight months of 2007, representing an increase of 11 percent.

In Travis, Williamson and Bexar counties, year-to-date totals have risen 23 percent (Austin Metro area, 20 percent and San Antonio Metro area, 22 percent). As for other counties, year-to-date foreclosure totals were 33 percent in Bell county, 19 percent in Comal, 12 percent in Guadalupe and two percent in Bastrop county.

Properties tracked by the FLS include single family homes, condominiums, townhomes, duplexes, mobile homes, apartment communities, office buildings, retail centers, industrial buildings, vacant land and other miscellaneous buildings.

Foreclosure auctions are held on the first Tuesday of the month on the north steps of the Hays County Courthouse.