Home foreclosures might not be on everyone's mind, but the foreclosure process marches on for hundreds of people in Flagler County.
But is there an end in sight?
Toby Tobin, of www.gotoby.com, has been keeping track of real estate in Flagler County for years. He sees a housing market that might finally be in recovery. About 20 percent of all home sales now in the county are distressed homes being bought and then sold.
"Not too long ago — three or four years ago — we were running at 50 percent and up to as high as 60 percent of the sales were distressed properties," Tobin said.
Flagler County isn't out of the woods yet, though. There are still homes stuck in the foreclosure pipeline despite efforts in the court system to hasten the process.
If there is a silver lining in Flagler county, it's this: The foreclosure process is catching up to the older cases, leaving fewer people in housing limbo.
"There have been some months where we've had over (100) foreclosure completions," Tobin said. "And there are organizations offering help."
The St. Johns Housing Partnership offers foreclosure prevention workshops.
Ann Dwyer, the program director, said they're still having success in facilitating loan modifications with lenders.
The need for help over the past few years may be declining, though.
Tobin said the market could soon be back to when it was the fastest growing county in the U.S.
"In 12 to 24 months, we'll be back to what you'd call a normal market in the sense that there aren't any more foreclosures now than there were in 2004," Tobin said.