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59 » VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM WHAT'S KEEPING FORECLOSURES AT BAY? e tiny state of Massachusetts, particularly around Cape Cod, could be a solid microcosm for the state of foreclosures in late 2017. A recent report by the Cape Cod Times found that a sellers' market on the island has driven foreclosure activity down for the first time in four years. According to the Boston-based Warren Group, foreclosure petitions in June dropped 20 percent compared to the year earlier. In Barnstable County, home of Cape Cod, petitions dropped 11 percent in the first half of 2017, compared to the first half of 2016. Statewide, petitions filed through June and were down 12.6 percent compared to a year ago. ese numbers could be the offshoot of a market in high demand and with high sales prices. According to the Cape Cod and the Islands Association of Realtors, the median price of single-family homes hit $400,000 on Cape Cod. at's up from $383,000 a year earlier, although down from May's $417,000. Still, sales are moving quickly, creating a high-octane seller's market that naturally circumvents foreclosure petitions: houses are selling so fast, owners are able to offload distressed properties without having to go to the courts, the Times reported. While petitions on Cape Cod in 2017 are not at the record lows they hit in 2013, they are, according to the Times, still far lower than their 2010 peak. It turns out, until now, 2013 was the only post-recession year when foreclosure petitions went down. e difference is that in 2013, the market was still depressed and banks had already gobbled up a lot of distressed properties. Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of the Warren Group, told the Times that Barnstable County still has plenty of foreclosures on the books, but the Warren Group also found that foreclosure auctions dropped on both a state and local level by 18 percent. However, the filing of foreclosure deeds was up statewide nearly 7 percent in the state and up 300 percent on the Cape‒‒ a sign, the Times wrote, "that the backlog of auctions was continuing to be resolved." One of the reasons distressed properties are attractive, the article stated, was that on the Cape in particular, homes that would otherwise be foreclosed are essentially move-in ready. HOMEOWNERSHIP: NOT JUST FOR THE WEALTHY According to a recently economic inequality study by Trulia, in Americas 100 largest metros, households with higher-income own homes at as much as 4.4 times the rate of those at the bottom. ough the historical trend has shown the market as off limits to low-income homebuyers, now that isn't true for every metro. e average age of a cities population, the magnitude of a housing market's price range, income inequality, and how long people stay in their homes play a role in homeownership inequity. According to the report, 77 percent of wealthy households own their homes, which is nearly 2.3 times the rate of poor households (34.9 percent). e gap in homeownership has been trending downward since 2012, nevertheless, from 2.4 times to 2.3. Based on the largest 100 metros, 79.3 percent of wealthy households now own homes—2.8 times higher than low-income households, which currently lie at 27.9 percent. ere isn't one reason in particular that homeownership continues to be unequal. It's possible it is a mixture of range of household income, range of home prices, age of the population, and the proportion of the population that have lived in their home for less than five year. However, according to Trulia, none of these are strong predictors. "While demographic factors in some metros, such as a younger than average population, may be fueling unequal housing outcomes, along with a national trend that has been pointing to a gradually widening gap, there still seems to be plenty of opportunity for changes to local housing policy that could move the needle in a favorable way for low income groups."

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