Last week we ran another foreclosure search for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County, Florida in order to evaluate the current shadow inventory levels, along with the pace of new foreclosure filings in South Florida.  As for Miami-Dade County, here is a snapshot of where the residential properties that are currently in some stage of foreclosure are located:

Some of the cities with elevated levels of distressed residential properties as of 8/1/13 are as follows:

• Hialeah – over 5,000 houses and over 5,000 condo/townhouse properties in foreclosure
• Homestead – over 5,000 houses and over 2,600 condo/townhouse properties inforeclosure
• City of Miami – over 5,000 houses and over 5,000 condo/townhouse properties in foreclosure
• Miami Gardens – over 5,000 houses and over 1,000 condo/townhouse properties in foreclosure
• Miami Beach – over 1,700 houses and over 3,200 condo/townhouse properties in foreclosure
• Downtown / Brickell – 136 houses and over 2,100 condo/townhouse properties in foreclosure

The overall count as of 8/1/2013 wash just under 55,000 residential properties in foreclosure.  The existing shadow inventory remains somewhat stable, but what is troubling is the trend of new filings in Miami-Dade County:

The monthly average of new foreclosure filings in Miami-Dade County 2012 was 1,807 and so far in 2013 that monthly average has more than doubled to 3,956 filings each month.  That is a disturbing trend to say the least.  In April, May and June, there were over 4,000 new foreclosure filings.  Next, here is a look at the breakdown of single-family and condo/townhouse filings:

The largest problem facing the South Florida residential property market is the length of time it takes for a lender to foreclose on a property.  As a judicial state, it takes close to 900 days on average for a lender to foreclose in Florida.  Hopefully the passage of House Bill 87 will speed up the process.  The elevated shadow inventory of foreclosures, combined with the large amount of new foreclosure filings throughout Miami-Dade translate into trouble for the housing market for the next few years.