LI Local Blog

Nassau Median Price Rises by 9.8% to $450,000

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 19:32:24 +0000

The median price of homes sold in Nassau County has risen every month since February of 2012, with the most dramatic increase being in August.

The median sale price for private homes and condos rose to $450,000, a $61,500 increase (15.8%) since the first of the year, with a $40,000 increase (9.8%) in August alone.

The month of August has typically shown the highest median price in Nassau County, and this has been the highest August as well as the highest month since August 2008.

Suffolk County median prices had been following a similar trend since the first of the year, but fell back in July and August.

See charts below.

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

Foreclosure Filings on the Rise – Slow-Down May be Over

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 19:22:30 +0000

It is apparent that the slow-down in foreclosure filings, brought about by the crackdown of the supreme court judges and the closing of the law firm of Steven J. Baum PC at the end of 2011, is ended.

The monthly number of new foreclosure filings has risen consistently since the beginning of 2012 at an average rate of 6% per month, with the August 2012 filings being the highest since September 2010.

Another indication is the increase in the number of re-filings of un-settled cases over 3 years old.
That number reached an all time high of 435 (over 30% of the total number of filings) in August 2012, representing many of the cases opened by the Steven Baum firm, which are now being re-filed by other attorneys.

It is too soon to predict if these new cases will move any more quickly through the process, but we suspect they will not.
The original slow-down was partially due to the sheer number of filings.
A similar delay could possibly occur again due to the current volume increase.

The charts below show the overall filings since 2005, and the re-file counts and percentages since 2008 (there were virtually no re-filings before 2008).

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

LI foreclosures did not soar

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:55:49 +0000

Over the years we have commented several times on the poor quality of RealtyTrac’s Long Island Foreclosure numbers.

Last week’s article in Newsday prompted us to comment again, but we felt it would only sound like more of the same.

Instead, we decided to try to understand why the numbers published by RealtyTrac for Nassau County and Suffolk County are so dramatically different from the Long Island numbers that we know to be correct.

A study of the details of RealtyTrac’s May 2012 data release showed the following results:

	RealtyTrac consistently reports Suffolk County foreclosure numbers as less than those of Nassau County. For at least the past ten years, this has never been the case. The cause of this discrepancy became obvious after studying their May counts. RealtyTrac reported little or no activity in 50 Suffolk hamlets that actually had a total of 318 filing activities. The most significant of these hamlets being:

	Clearly RealtyTrac’s Suffolk numbers can be disregarded completely.
	Nassau County numbers, while closer to reality, fail in the year to year comparison. A major part of the increase over May 2011 was due to the 128% increase in re-filed Lis Pendens. These should not be considered as “new” foreclosure activity, especially since a large percentage of these re-files are those originally filed by the former law firm of Steven J. Baum PC, which was responsible for over 40% of the foreclosure filings on Long Island for the past several years. These 3 to 4 year old filings have just recently started to be re-filed by other attorneys.

It has always been our opinion that the true measure of “new” activity is the Lis Pendens count.

The chart below uses just new Lis Pendens and compares them to the RealtyTrac numbers.

These results do not warrant the Newsday headline
LI foreclosures soar.

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

New Lis Pendens Filings Fall by 48%

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:55:17 +0000

New Lis Pendens filings dropped to lowest point in almost 5 years. There were 1,937 new Lis Pendens filings in the First Quarter of 2011. This number represents the lowest quarterly count since the second quarter of 2006, and a 48% drop from the first quarter of 2010. The total Lis Pendens filing activity for the quarter was 2,428, but that included 491 re-filed items, almost all of which were originally filed 3 years ago and had to be re-filed to avoid automatic expiration. As we have reported on earlier posts, this re-filing number has been steadily increasing since the last quarter of 2009. In the first quarter of 2011, the re-filings represented 20% of the total number, the largest ever percentage. The charts below show the quarterly activity beginning in 2005. Please note that the dip at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 was due to imposed legislation that caused a 3 month delay in filings.

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

RealtyTrac Misses the Mark on Long Island Foreclosures

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:19:07 +0000

RealtyTrac continues to miss the mark on Long Island Foreclosure numbers.

A recent Newsday article using RealtyTrac’s figures stated that the February numbers showed a 23% jump in foreclosure related filings from a year earlier.
In actuality, using Lis Pendens filings as the measure, there was a 41% decrease from February 2010.

While RealtyTrac mentions the biggest year-over-year decrease nationwide, they reported Long Island numbers as increasing.

The table and charts below show the Lis Pendens filings figures for the past 6+ years.

Due to the continuing increase in re-filings (Lis Pendens approaching the 3 year expiration), particularly in Suffolk County, the charts and tables have been modified to separate the new filings from the re-files. (See our previous post on this topic.)

Note the extremely high percentage of the total filings in February 2011 for Suffolk County.
31% of the total filings for the month were renewals.

While it is unlikely that this trend will continue over time, there is no doubting the fact that Long Island Lis Pendens filings have been dropping dramatically.

	Lis Pendens Filings Table
Month		Nassau			Suffolk			Long Island
Month		New	ReFile	Total	New	ReFile	Total	New	ReFile	Total
Feb	‘11	235	15	250	366	163	529	601	178	779
Jan	‘11	284	7	291	396	102	498	680	109	789
Dec	‘10	260	33	293	434	141	575	694	174	868
Nov	‘10	200	14	214	324	42	366	524	56	580
Oct	‘10	374	20	394	534	113	647	908	133	1,041
Sep	‘10	485	16	501	820	95	915	1,305	111	1,416
Aug	‘10	490	24	514	735	96	831	1,225	120	1,345
Jul	‘10	431	18	449	617	70	687	1,048	88	1,136
Jun	‘10	510	15	525	794	68	862	1,304	83	1,387
May	‘10	420	14	434	771	42	813	1,191	56	1,247
Apr	‘10	459	14	473	680	37	717	1,139	51	1,190
Mar	‘10	423	18	441	752	39	791	1,175	57	1,232
Feb	‘10	380	8	388	636	31	667	1,016	39	1,055
Jan	‘10	569	24	593	934	29	963	1,503	53	1,556
Dec	‘09	691	3	694	1,017	6	1,023	1,708	9	1,717
Nov	‘09	573	6	579	906	34	940	1,479	40	1,519
Oct	‘09	680	6	686	1,047	16	1,063	1,727	22	1,749
Sep	‘09	724	3	727	1,197	12	1,209	1,921	15	1,936
Aug	‘09	745	9	754	1,252	15	1,267	1,997	24	2,021
Jul	‘09	755	10	765	1,122	9	1,131	1,877	19	1,896
Jun	‘09	684	4	688	1,085	8	1,093	1,769	12	1,781
May	‘09	548	1	549	854	9	863	1,402	10	1,412
Apr	‘09	615	2	617	983	15	998	1,598	17	1,615
Mar	‘09	546	2	548	976	11	987	1,522	13	1,535
Feb	‘09	416	3	419	638	4	642	1,054	7	1,061
Jan	‘09	265	3	268	446	4	450	711	7	718
Dec	‘08	166	4	170	259	6	265	425	10	435
Nov	‘08	154	2	156	214	7	221	368	9	377
Oct	‘08	200	1	201	273	11	284	473	12	485
Sep	‘08	182	2	184	347	2	349	529	4	533
Aug	‘08	661	6	667	1,020	5	1,025	1,681	11	1,692
Jul	‘08	640	2	642	1,049	9	1,058	1,689	11	1,700
Jun	‘08	506	1	507	930	4	934	1,436	5	1,441
May	‘08	537	1	538	812	6	818	1,349	7	1,356
Apr	‘08	567	3	570	947	7	954	1,514	10	1,524
Mar	‘08	612	2	614	879	3	882	1,491	5	1,496
Feb	‘08	219		219	787	1	788	1,006	1	1,007
Jan	‘08	515	2	517	862		862	1,377	2	1,379
Dec	‘07	407		407	692	1	693	1,099	1	1,100
Nov	‘07	405		405	673		673	1,078		1,078
Oct	‘07	499	1	500	857		857	1,356	1	1,357
Sep	‘07	405		405	651		651	1,056		1,056
Aug	‘07	492		492	816		816	1,308		1,308
Jul	‘07	425	1	426	647		647	1,072	1	1,073
Jun	‘07	383		383	624		624	1,007		1,007
May	‘07	396	1	397	533		533	929	1	930
Apr	‘07	334		334	556		556	890		890
Mar	‘07	383		383	610		610	993		993
Feb	‘07	361		361	514		514	875		875
Jan	‘07	385		385	606	2	608	991	2	993
Dec	‘06	344		344	468	1	469	812	1	813
Nov	‘06	361		361	527		527	888		888
Oct	‘06	352	1	353	533		533	885	1	886
Sep	‘06	263		263	439		439	702		702
Aug	‘06	333		333	468		468	801		801
Jul	‘06	246		246	371		371	617		617
Jun	‘06	262		262	399		399	661		661
May	‘06	237		237	366		366	603		603
Apr	‘06	204		204	329	1	330	533	1	534
Mar	‘06	317	1	318	436		436	753	1	754
Feb	‘06	229	1	230	376		376	605	1	606
Jan	‘06	206		206	321		321	527		527
Dec	‘05	217		217	345		345	562		562
Nov	‘05	202		202	268		268	470		470
Oct	‘05	229		229	318		318	547		547
Sep	‘05	185		185	299		299	484		484
Aug	‘05	253		253	343		343	596		596
Jul	‘05	167		167	279		279	446		446
Jun	‘05	227		227	275		275	502		502
May	‘05	169		169	241		241	410		410
Apr	‘05	172		172	290		290	462		462
Mar	‘05	215		215	312		312	527		527
Feb	‘05	178		178	258		258	436		436
Jan	‘05	169		169	282		282	451		451

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visitThe Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

Lis Pendens Renewals on the Rise

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 22:58:42 +0000

The past several months have shown an unprecedented number of Lis Pendens being re-filed. The chart below shows the number of monthly Lis Pendens notices that were the result of a re-filing. Most of these re-filings were due to the unusual length of time that it has been taking for a Lis Pendens to move forward to the next stages (appointment of a referee and Judgment of Foreclosure). This extended time has caused many Lis Pendens to approach their expiration date (3 years) forcing the Plaintiff Attorneys to renew. The slowing down of the process has been brought about by several factors, including the extremely large number of mortgage foreclosures during the past few years, as well as the legislative actions taken to cause the lenders to modify their procedures.

As the chart shows, there has always been some small number of re-filings each month, most of them not caused by a 3 year delay. Since the beginning of 2010, that number has continued to rise, to a high of 172 in December, representing 20% of the total filings for the month. The chart below shows the relationship between new notices and re-filings.

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

4th Quarter Foreclosure Closings Fall by 72%

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:52:28 +0000

The 2010 full year sales numbers show a dramatic decrease in Foreclosure Closings in the 4th Quarter of 2010. Foreclosure Closings represent those properties that have been lost by the homeowner after going through the complete foreclosure cycle (Lis Pendens, Judgment of Foreclosure and Auction Sale). The chart and table below show the figures for the past 5 years.

As the chart clearly shows, beginning at the end of 2006, Foreclosure Filings began a remarkably consistent rise over seven quarters, raising the quarterly rate by 330%. The count then leveled off for the next 9 quarters, averaging approximately 550 closings per quarter. The 4th quarter of 2010 has recorded only 157, representing a 72% drop from the average of the past 9 quarters. Many Foreclosure Closings are filed much later than they actually occur, but it is not likely that the late filings will significantly impact these numbers.

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

2010 Lis Pendens Filings Fall by 26%

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:42:47 +0000

The 2010 full year numbers for foreclosure filings (Lis Pendens) are in, showing a 26% decrease in filings as compared to 2009. The table and chart below show the figures for the past 6 years. 2010 was the first year in the past 6 years in which the Lis Pendens Filings decreased, and the first year that there was a downward trend in average monthly filings.


As we explained last year, the seemingly large jump between 2008 and 2009 is not a true indication of the year to year increase. This was due to a 4 month period at the end of 2008 in which there were very few new Lis Pendens filings, due to a new state law.
As can be seen from the individual monthly statistical charts below, the monthly rate of Lis Pendens filings has been increasing each year since 2005. In 2005 the average number of filings increased by 8 per month. This grew to 24 per month in 2006 and 2007, 56 per month in 2008 and reached its peak of 65 per month in 2009. In 2010, the numbers began to decrease where the average rate of decrease per month was 38 filings. There is no reason to believe this trend will continue, as January of 2011 appears to be tracking closely with the January numbers of the past 3 years.

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

Year End 2009 Lis Pendens Numbers

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:56:25 +0000

The full year numbers for foreclosure filings (Lis Pendens) are in. The table below shows the figures for the past 5 years.

The seemingly large jump between 2008 and 2009 is not a true indication of the year to year increase. As we have been reporting, there was a 4 month period at the end of 2008 in which there were very few new Lis Pendens filings, due to a new state law. The trend chart below presents a better picture of the growth rate of filings, which has been an increase of approximately 260 filings per month, every month.

These numbers vary dramatically from the recently released numbers from RealtyTrac. Their numbers refer to “some sort of foreclosure-related filing” and they quote the numbers as shown in the table below. In an effort to make a valid comparison, our numbers below show the homes that received Lis Pendens notices plus the homes that were ultimately lost by the homeowners due to the foreclosure action. It is obvious that there is something missing in the RealtyTrac counts.

We are constantly amazed at how the RealtyTrac numbers are so consistently far away from the real numbers. Our numbers are meticulously collected from the public records of Nassau and Suffolk counties, and they are screened for accuracy and appropriateness. Why would the RealtyTrac numbers be so far off? Recently, RealtyTrac was questioned about the large difference between our numbers and theirs. A spokesman replied that it could be because they collect the data only once a month, and they never report a Lis Pendens that has been reported in the past year. We do not understand how either of those responses could be the cause of such dramatic differences. We also do not report filings that we have reported already, and the number of repeated filings represents less than 0.5% of the totals. Although we have no knowledge of the accuracy of the rest of RealtyTrac’s numbers, it is certain that they do not correctly represent the Long Island picture. Below are the charts showing the monthly Lis Pendens filings and trends for Nassau, Suffolk and Long Island.

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.

Good News/Bad News on the foreclosure filing front

The Long Island Real Estate Report — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:50:38 +0000

First – the bad news -

As predicted, the 3rd quarter number of foreclosure filings (Lis Pendens) on Long Island has already surpassed the record set in the 2nd quarter with 8% of the filing periods still unrecorded.

We forecasted that the number could be greater than 5,600. It will definitely exceed that.

Lis Pendens Filings
Location	2009 Q1	2009 Q2	2009 Q3
Nassau County	1,233	1,853	2,067
Suffolk County	2,079	2,951	3,483
Long Island	3,312	4,804	5,550

Now – the good news -

As we last reported, the increased Lis Pendens activity was centered on a few lenders.

Particularly:

   BAC Home Loan Services (formerly Countrywide).

   JPMorgan Chase (including Washington Mutual).

   OneWest Bank (formerly IndyMac).

These 3 lenders combined have averaged 135 filings per week for the past 10 weeks, as opposed to 42 filings per week for the previous 80 weeks (since 1/1/2008).

Preliminary 4th quarter information is indicating that this filing barrage may be over.

Average Weekly Lis Pendens Filings (Since 1/1/2008)
Lender	1st 80 Weeks	Last 10 Weeks	Preliminary Q4 First Week
BAC Home Loans	13	45	15
OneWest Bank	14	70	12
JPMorgan Chase	15	20	7
Total	42	135	13

For complete information on Long Island Sales and Lis Pendens, visit

The Long Island Real Estate Report Stats/Trends area.