The overhang of properties in foreclosure continues to be the dark cloud looming over the “housing recovery” in the headlines.  As far as Miami-Dade County, here is a city-by-city snapshot of where all the foreclosures are located.

Our search results are capped at 5,000, so some of the cities are maxed-out.  Therefore, the total count of nearly 55,000 foreclosures throughout Miami-Dade is actually a low figure.  The actual number is much higher!  Here are some of the chart leaders:

• Hialeah has over 5,000 houses and over 5,000 condo/townhouse properties in some stage of foreclosure
• Homestead has over 5,000 houses and 2,680 condo/townhouse properties in some stage of foreclosure
• Miami Gardens has over 5,000 houses and 1,093 condo/townhouse properties in some stage of foreclosure
• City of Miami has over 5,000 houses and over 5,000 condo/townhouse properties in some stage of foreclosure
• Miami beach has 1,739 houses and 3,203 condo/townhouse properties in some stage of foreclosure

Those were just the top five areas with a high shadow inventory of foreclosures.  There is so much attention on the red-hot housing market that nobody seems to be paying much attention to the massive overhang of residential properties in foreclosure.  Next, take a look at the pace of new foreclosure filings in Miami-Dade:

In July, there were 1,896 houses and 1,204 condo/townhouse properties in Miami-Dade that received a new foreclosure notice.  The total number of monthly filings has been elevated throughout 2013.  It took a break in July, but the monthly average of  3,834 new filings (on houses & condo/townhouses) in 2013 is double the average monthly foreclosure filings of 1,807 in 2012.

Just to put this problem into perspective, we have a chart that compares the shadow inventory of foreclosures in South Florida to the available properties for sale.  That will explain why people think that this is a recovery.  In actuality, the price trends have been artificially supported because the foreclosures have not hit the market yet.  The data is for the tri-county area of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County.

The fact of the matter is that pace of new foreclosure filings in South Florida well outweighs the pace of distressed sales.  That is why the shadow inventory of foreclosures continues to grow.  Remember that Florida is a judicial state and has one of the longest foreclosure timelines in the country.  The average foreclosure in Florida takes nearly 900 days to complete, but there are plenty of delinquent borrowers who have managed to stay in their properties for 4-5 years without making a payment.  A true housing recovery will not take place until the market is able to absorb this massive overhang of distressed properties.